Raspberry Sundae
by LucretiaDecoy
Summary: When the team encounter a lone cat demon in the living world, a series of strange events occur that lead to the team caught in the middle of an ancient battle between two opposing factions of a clan of cat demons. As the team get drawn deeper and deeper into the fight, they inadvertently uncover several other hidden secrets across all three worlds.
1. Raspberry Sundae

**Chapter 1 – Raspberry Sundae**

"You can have whatever you want my love!"

Kuwabara opened out his arms – inadvertently slapping a jar of novelty cocktail umbrellas off of the glass counter – and grinned expectantly at Yukina. Yukina pressed the side of one fist to her chin and looked thoughtful as she alternately surveyed the brightly-lit display of colourful ice creams in front of her and scanned over the giant menu cards mounted on boards at the back of the shop.

"Come on lady, I've got a queue here," the harried man behind the counter grumbled.

"Hey, we're your best customers!" Kuwabara protested. "We come here every Wednesday afternoon and we always leave a generous tip!"

The man sighed and turned his attention back to Yukina, who had edged closer to the glass counter, peering in at the large metallic tubs of frozen delights.

"Every week it's the same thing with you lady," he said to her.

She slowly lifted her eyes to look directly at him.

"You come in here, you spend way too long looking at everything and then you ask for the same thing every time," he said as their eyes met. "But today it's the start of tourist season and I'm kinda busy, so let's fast forward to the part where you take a single scoop of lemon sorbet and your over-enthusiastic boyfriend over there orders the family-size double-chocolate fudge chunk supreme."

"I'm looking for Raspberry Sundae," Yukina meekly replied.

The man gave a long, irritated sigh.

"I know you are lady," he said. "You ask me for it every damn week."

"Then why don't you just make it for her?" Kuwabara demanded.

"And I have this conversation with you every week too," the man replied. "We don't make raspberry sundae. If it ain't on the menu, you can't have it."

"How hard can it be to make it?" Kuwabara argued. "You make a strawberry sundae and you've got a giant bottle of raspberry sauce back there, just swap the strawberries on the strawberry sundae for raspberries!"

"Look, I can get you a strawberry sundae or a couple of scoops of raspberry ripple, but that's as close as it gets."

Kuwabara stepped closer to the counter.

"I'm trying to impress my girlfriend here," he whispered.

"And I'm trying to run a business here," the man whispered back.

"It's alright, I understand," Yukina said. "I don't want to be a bother. I'll just have a single scoop of lemon sorbet please."

"Thank you," the man said before turning back to Kuwabara. "And the family-size double-chocolate fudge chunk supreme for you, I assume?"

"No!" Kuwabara snorted. "Gimme the family-size double-chocolate fudge chunk supreme with chopped nuts."

"How original."

Kuwabara glowered angrily at the man behind the counter before moving to the door and opening it for Yukina, who gave him a small smile and nod of her head as she walked out ahead of him. He followed her out to their usual table under the shade of the shop awning, pulling out a chair for her and then sitting down opposite her.

"I don't know what that guy's problem is," he said as he noticed the slightly disappointed look on Yukina's face. "Hey maybe we should just make our own raspberry sundaes. We could probably get a recipe off the Internet."

Yukina gave a tight smile, her eyes locked onto the surface of the table.

"You can't really make Raspberry Sundae," she said.

Kuwabara considered correcting her but ultimately decided against it since she looked so strangely sad. He decided that instead, he would find a recipe for raspberry sundae, buy all the ingredients, make it and then surprise her with it the following week; since he had started attending university in another city, he was only able to travel back home to visit Yukina and his family twice a week – on a Wednesday afternoon when he had a half day of classes and at the weekends – and so he liked to always do something special for Yukina on their days together. He knew that she was quite happy living with his father and Shizuru, but sometimes he thought that she was lonely or bored there without him.

"Well, well, fancy seeing the two of you here on a Wednesday afternoon."

Kuwabara looked up. It was not that he was not happy to see Kurama, but it did bother him that the fox demon often ended up interrupting his Wednesday afternoon visit to the ice cream parlour with Yukina.

"Hey Kurama," he said, trying not to sound as irritated as he felt.

"Do you mind if I join you?" Kurama asked.

Kuwabara wanted to say that he did mind, but before he could, Kurama had pulled out a chair and sat down.

"How's work?" Kuwabara asked him.

He was partly asking the question because he could not really understand why Kurama was not at his work on a weekday afternoon; he was even dressed in a formal shirt and tie and had on those hideous square, black-framed glasses he usually wore when he was at work.

"Good," Kurama replied. "A little slow, but generally good. How's school?"

"Good," Kuwabara replied.

There was a short, awkward silence, during which Kuwabara looked about for something to say or a reason to get rid of Kurama so that he could once more be alone with Yukina; but before he could find an answer for either, Yukina spoke.

"Have you been shopping?" she asked.

Kurama and Kuwabara both looked down at the dark green plastic bag on the ground by Kurama's feet.

"Not exactly," Kurama replied, looking up at Yukina. "I occasionally visit plant shops – because sometimes I find rogue demon plants here in the living world – and today I saw something I thought I should buy – for my mother – because it's her birthday."

Kuwabara narrowed his eyes slightly, finding the pacing of Kurama's answer oddly staggered and his tone vaguely tense as though something he had said was a lie.

"So you bought your old lady a plant?" he asked.

"Yes," Kurama replied. "I bought a plant."

Kuwabara narrowed his eyes further.

"What kinda plant?" he asked.

"It's a flower."

"What kinda flower?"

Kurama turned to look directly at Kuwabara.

"Do you really care?" he asked.

"Yeah," Kuwabara lied. "It's Shizuru's birthday soon and I need gift ideas. Lemme see it."

"It's Shizuru's birthday soon?" Yukina asked.

Neither Kurama nor Kuwabara noticed her confusion, both watching each other carefully as Kurama lifted the bag up onto the table and carefully opened it out, revealing a small mass of flowers in a relatively plain plastic pot.

"It's not a demon flower?" Kuwabara asked, eying the plant over suspiciously.

"No, it's just a normal flower," Kurama replied.

"What kinda flower is it?" Kuwabara pressed. "Because, you know, I need to know so that I can get the same one for Shizuru."

"It's a peony," Kurama said.

"It's Raspberry Sundae."

Kurama and Kuwabara both turned to Yukina, who glanced between them both with wide eyes.

"No my love, they don't serve raspberry sundae here," Kuwabara told her.

Kurama turned to give Kuwabara an admonishing look but his eyes flicked upwards and Kuwabara turned to see what had caught his attention, yelping out involuntarily as he found Hiei suddenly standing uncomfortably close to the back of his chair.

"Raspberry Sundae is the name of the flower, idiot," Hiei said as their eyes met.

"…What?" Kuwabara grunted.

"That's correct," Kurama said. "This particular peony is called Raspberry Sundae."

"Is it real?" Hiei asked.

"It looks real," Kuwabara replied.

"It's a simple living world plant," Kurama said.

"Hn," Hiei grunted, before moving over to the remaining spare seat opposite Kurama and sitting down.

Kuwabara glanced back and forth between Kurama and Hiei, frustration mounting as he tried desperately to think of a way to get them both to leave. Hiei was staring at the flower with a slightly angered look on his face – which was not out of the ordinary for Hiei – and Kurama was staring at the flower with a slightly saddened look on his face – which was also not unusual for Kurama. Across the table from Kuwabara, Yukina was also staring at the flower, her head tilted slightly to one side, her eyes wide and unblinking as though she was captivated by it. It started to occur to Kuwabara that it was odd that three demons could be so fascinated by a little flower and he shortly found himself looking at it, partly expecting something to appear before him when he did.

And, a few seconds later, something did.

Yukina screamed in alarm, her chair tipping backwards as she made to distance herself from the table. Hiei shot out of his chair and caught the back of her chair before she fell and Kuwabara and Kurama were both on their feet, all four watching the figure that appeared to have dropped out of the sky to land in a crouch on their table

"What the hell is that thing?" Kuwabara asked, turning to Kurama expectantly.

"What does it look like you fool?" Hiei spat. "It's obviously a cat demon!"

Hiei straightened Yukina's chair before dragging it back – with Yukina still sitting in it – and moving around to stand between her and the table. He drew out his sword, but Kuwabara could not help but notice that there was something slightly amiss about him; his face was glistening with sweat despite him not having made any great physical exertion, his pupils were dilated and unmoving and one of the fingers on his free hand was twitching. Kuwabara turned to Kurama and felt no more reassured when he saw Kurama staring at the plant he had bought his mother, looking even more flustered than Hiei. Kuwabara quickly glanced around the street, feeling even more confused when he saw people casually walking past and continuing about their day as if there wasn't a woman with giant cat ears, fanged teeth and a long, bristled tail crouched on the table curiously poking at a potted plant.

"Hey wait a minute…" he muttered. "Where did you come from?"

The cat demon turned her head, fixing her distinctly feline green eyes onto Kuwabara. She looked harmless and he could not sense any great power radiating off of her; in fact, he thought darkly, he could not sense any energy from her whatsoever. He had not sensed her approach because she had no aura to be sensed. She scratched idly at the slightly grubby bandana tied over her forehead before turning her attention back to Kurama's plant and grabbing the pot in her other hand. She managed to lift the pot a short distance from the table surface before she was halted abruptly by Kurama, who suddenly had his hand gripped very firmly around her wrist.

"It's not what you think it is," he said to her in a low voice. "Put it back down and go back to wherever you came from."

"It looks like Raspberry Sundae to me," the cat replied, her voice as hushed as Kurama's.

"Let go of it!" Yukina suddenly cried out, standing abruptly behind Hiei.

Kuwabara turned to her in shock at her outburst and he was actually relieved when Hiei put out his free arm to stop her from trying to pass him; which, amazingly, she had been about to do. The cat dropped the potted plant and leapt around on the spot to face Hiei, leaning to one side to peer over his shoulder at Yukina.

"Go away!" Yukina shouted.

"Stay back," Hiei growled over his shoulder at her.

"How curious," the cat demon commented, sounding far less interested than her words implied she might be.

"I don't know how you managed to trick you way past my patrol, but when I find out, I will kill those responsible for letting you through," Hiei warned her.

"Of course you will," the cat demon replied, smiling amusedly.

"But first, I'm going to kill you," he snarled.

"No!" Kurama and Yukina both said in unison.

"Huh?" Kuwabara grunted.

"Just get out of here," Kurama said to the cat's back. "And never, ever return!"

The cat leapt around and grabbed the potted flower again and again Kurama grabbed her wrist to stop her from taking it. She started to reach her other hand towards his and he hurriedly slapped it back with his free hand. Kuwabara watched in dumbstruck disbelief as Kurama and the cat demon exchanged an increasingly clumsy series of slaps and snatches at the flower before the cat finally leapt over Kurama's head and sprinted across the street, leaping over car roofs in the process and finally disappearing down an alley.

Kurama, his hair ruffled and his glasses askew on his face, was standing perfectly still, one hand hanging loosely at his side, the other tightly clutching his potted plant, which was suddenly missing all the flowerheads.

"Okay, what the hell was that all about?" Kuwabara asked him.

Kurama did not so much as blink in response. Kuwabara groaned out a sigh.

"Hiei, are you gonna tell me what the hell is going on?"

Kuwabara turned around to find that Hiei had vanished and Yukina was left standing where she had been before, one hand clutched at her chest, the other slightly outstretched as though she was reaching for something nobody else but she could see.

"Typical Hiei running off," Kuwabara grumbled. "C'mon Kurama, what was all that about?"

Kuwabara turned back in time to see Kurama's plastic green shopping bag hit the ground after it had been launched into the air by some unseen force: and Kurama was nowhere to be seen.

"Yukina?"

Kuwabara turned back to Yukina, relieved to find her still standing in the same position she had been before he had turned away.

"Here you go," the man from the ice cream parlour announced as he placed a small plastic bowl in front of Yukina and a tall plastic bowl piled high with ice cream in front of Kuwabara.

"Yukina?" Kuwabara said again.

She blinked and her eyes seemed to regain focus. She blinked again and then slowly lowered her arms to her side, turning her head slightly to look directly at Kuwabara. He raised his eyebrows expectantly.

"It's Raspberry Sundae," she said, as though her answer was obvious and explained everything that had just occurred.

"No lady, it's lemon sorbet," the man from the ice cream parlour corrected her. "And that is the family-size double-chocolate fudge chunk supreme. With chopped nuts."

Yukina moved her eyes to look at him, glaring at him in a way that made even Kuwabara feel uneasy, before righting her chair and sitting down at the table by her small bowl. Kuwabara picked up his own chair and sat down opposite her, waiting until the man had warily retreated back inside the shop before addressing Yukina again.

"So raspberry sundae is a pretty deal for you demons, huh?"

Yukina let out a long sigh before jabbing her plastic spoon at the hard lump of lemon sorbet in front of her.

"I prefer chocolate fudge myself," Kuwabara muttered. "But maybe that's just a human thing."

* * *

After an awkwardly silent afternoon at the ice cream parlour with Yukina, Kuwabara walked her back to his family home with the intention of leaving her there and boarding a train back to his accommodation by the university. He had hoped that, after the madness of the undetectable cat demon, his day could not get any weirder.

When he arrived at the front door it whipped open the second Yukina stepped up onto the porch and Keiko pounced out from behind it.

"Where have you two been?" she demanded, glancing back and forth between Kuwabara and Yukina accusingly.

"We were downtown," Kuwabara flatly replied. "Why are you in my dad's house?"

Keiko moved to the edge of the porch, leaning over the railing and looking up and down the street before backing up into the house, beckoning for Kuwabara and Yukina to follow her. Kuwabara indicated for Yukina to go first and he followed after her, shortly finding himself standing in the living room with Keiko, Kurama and Botan.

"What the hell is going on?" he asked, looking about himself suspiciously. "Where's my dad? And where's my sister?"

"We have to talk, Kuwabara, Yukina," Botan said. "Have a seat."

"What do you mean "have a seat"?" Kuwabara echoed. "This is my dad's house! Yukina lives here! You're acting like this is your place!"

"Please, Kuwabara, sit down," Kurama insisted before doing so himself.

Keiko sat down beside Kurama on a sofa and Kuwabara and Yukina sat down on another sofa facing them across a low table, leaving Botan on her feet.

"Lord Koenma sent me," she explained. "We've received reports that a demon may have escaped into the living world – he was hoping we could check it out and that Kurama could go to demon world and check with Hiei to find out if he was aware of any breaches in his border patrol."

"Of course," Kurama replied with a nod. "Did Koenma give any indication as to what sort of demon he thought it might be?"

"It was a cat demon," Kuwabara interrupted Botan before she could answer. "We all saw it this afternoon, remember?"

Botan and Keiko looked interested but Kuwabara could not help but notice the dark look Kurama was giving him; and when he turned to look at Yukina at his side he found her glaring at him with even more intensity than Kurama.

"A cat demon?" Botan asked. "Do you mean like this?"

Botan pulled one of her kitty-cat faces and Keiko laughed and rolled her eyes.

"Yeah sure Botan!" she said. "I bet it looked just like that!"

"No she didn't," Kuwabara argued. "She looked like a proper demon – like that crazy newscaster lady from the dark tournament."

"You mean Koto?" Kurama asked.

"Right, Koto," Kuwabara agreed. "She looked kinda like Koto."

"Koto is a fox demon," Kurama pointed out. "Are you sure it wasn't a fox demon that you saw?"

Kuwabara started to frown, but Kurama kept his expression neutral as though unaffected by the lie he seemed to be trying to generate.

"A fox demon like Koto?" Botan said. "Hm, I wonder if Yusuke would know anything about a demon like that."

"Let me find out for you," Kurama offered, standing up. "I'll go to demon world tonight, I'll talk to Hiei and to Yusuke and I'll let you know what I find out."

"Good work, Kurama!" Botan said enthusiastically.

Kuwabara stared at her incredulously, but the moment was brief as Kurama stepped between them as he made to leave and Kuwabara caught the almost threatening way the fox demon was glaring at him as he passed by.

"Okay, while Kurama investigates the matter on the demon world side, I'll return to spirit world and see what I can dig up," Botan continued as Kurama left the room. "And while I do that, Yukina can stay here so that we can report back to her, and the two of you can search around the living world and see what you can find out."

Kuwabara slowly stood up, watching Keiko as he did so: she was watching Botan intently and nodding her head as though agreeing with what she had just heard.

"So…" he said slowly. "You want me and Keiko to search the living world for the escaped demon?"

"Of course," Botan replied, apparently still not seeing the obvious flaw in her logic.

"Right…" Kuwabara said. "But what do we do if we find the demon?"

"Well you capture it, contain it and then report back here, of course!" Botan answered.

She was starting to look at Kuwabara as though she thought he was the one being ridiculous.

"And how is Keiko supposed to capture and contain a demon?"

Being diplomatic was obviously not working and so Kuwabara had decided to just be direct.

"Okay, I know I'm not a super-powered psychic like you or a part-Mazoku like Yusuke, but I'm still a pretty decent spirit detective."

Kuwabara turned to Keiko, waiting through a long, uncomfortable silence for her to add that her last statement had been a joke.

"And now that the border patrol keep demons in demon world and help stray humans back into living world, there really isn't much for me to do anyway," she continued instead. "Being spirit detective isn't hard work – I mean, come on, my predecessor was Yusuke Urameshi and when has he ever worked hard at anything, right?"

"…I don't get it…" Kuwabara muttered.

"Keiko is the new spirit detective, what part of that don't you understand?" Botan asked.

"But… Keiko's not a fighter," Kuwabara said, feeling increasingly bewildered when his words appeared to make Botan angry.

"Weren't you listening?" she said, her voice gaining an impatient tone. "Now that the border patrol keeps the more dangerous demons at bay within demon world, the only work to be done here in living world is minor and mostly concerned with lost souls or missing sprites from spirit world."

"…Keiko went catatonic at the dark tournament…"

"Keiko's been training, she has increased her spiritual awareness and she functions quite well for what we need her for."

"…I don't get it…"

"It was something I wanted to do," Keiko said. "After the last tournament it got me thinking that I was pretty helpless and pathetic and that I knew absolutely nothing about the threats people in the living world faced from demons. I started reading books Botan gave me and eventually Koenma agreed to let me train. Once a week I go to Kuroko Sato for classes."

Keiko looked like she meant what she was saying. Kuwabara turned to Botan and saw her looking determined and unwavering in her conviction. He then turned to Yukina, who was still sitting on the sofa, looking slightly bored.

"Yukina?" he said, waiting until she looked up at him before continuing. "Is this… Is this raspberry sundae?"

Yukina stood up and gently touched a hand to his arm.

"No Kazuma, this is not Raspberry Sundae," she said softly. "This is your house and we are your friends."

Kuwabara slowly looked around all three females – demon, human and spirit – before slowly nodding his head and then ultimately allowing Botan to bustle him out of the house and onto the street, where she left him with instructions to search the south side of town.

* * *

"You disappeared very quickly."

"Hn."

It had been a long time since Hiei had walked any distance – since he usually ran everywhere – but it somehow seemed more fitting to walk with Kurama across the last leg of their journey towards Yusuke's tower. It was prolonging the moment, but Hiei had not yet decided if awkward, stilted conversation with Kurama was any worse than the inevitable ribbing he was going to receive from Yusuke when the Mazoku found out that a demon had somehow made it past the border patrol and entered the living world.

"Do you have fleas?"

It was the only attempt at conversation Hiei had made during the entire journey; but since slowing their pace, he could not help but notice that Kurama had been scratching absent-mindedly at his right ear.

"I hope not," Kurama said, managing a small smile. "I suppose – just in the moment – after such a strange day – I forgot that I would revert to my full demon form when we arrived here."

Hiei ran his eyes over Kurama, finding him looking more human than he ever had in the body of Shuichi Minamino as he fidgeted awkwardly behind an almost menacing scowl that did not befit the rest of his inexplicably slightly dishevelled appearance.

"Hey, if it isn't Mister Relaxed and Mister Happy!"

Hiei turned, his face dropped into a scowl, to face Yusuke, who had apparently detected their approach and come out to meet them a short way from the tower entrance.

"Unfortunately Yusuke, this is not a social call," Kurama solemnly greeted him.

"Oh I know that," Yusuke answered with a casual wave of his hand. "Hokushin already filled me in on the little border patrol failing…"

He turned to Hiei with a look that seemed light-hearted, but Hiei had known him long enough to know that he was secretly slightly annoyed.

"I wasn't on duty at the time that it happened," Hiei blurted out guiltily.

"How do you know that?" Kurama challenged him. "None of us sensed her approach, she could have been in the living world for several days before she confronted us."

"I didn't see you running after her when she took off with your stupid flowers," Hiei shot back.

"Are you sure this isn't a social call?" Yusuke asked Kurama through a lop-sided smirk. "Because it's starting to get kinda amusing…"

"Yusuke, please," Kurama replied.

"I was prepared to kill her," Hiei offered.

"So why didn't you?" Yusuke asked him. "Isn't that the protocol now? Any stray demons get given the choice of returning peacefully or you finish them off; because otherwise, I have to deal with Hokushin getting assaulted by SDF officers delivering messages from spirit world."

"I'm sorry that had to happen, but this is an exceptional case," Kurama cut in. "This was no ordinary stray demon. She was a cat demon. A female cat demon."

Yusuke shrugged.

"So… We have special rules for stray cats now?" he asked.

"Again, this is not something to be laughed at," Kurama patiently replied. "Ordinarily I would suggest we capture her and return her here and ensure any breaches where she could potentially return to living world are sealed and carefully guarded from henceforth; however, she was no ordinary cat demon. And she was a female cat demon."

"Right," Yusuke said with a nod. "So what, we need to get a sack of catnip and get her wasted before we take her back here?"

"Idiot!" Hiei snapped impatiently. "You don't even know what we're talking about, do you?"

Yusuke looked far too nonchalant for Hiei's already stretched patience to tolerate for any longer.

"Cat demons! The tribe of cat demons!" he roared, ignoring the flock of ravens that took to the air as his voice echoed off the high walls of Yusuke's tower.

"Yeah?" Yusuke responded, still looking significantly less concerned than he ought to.

"You really need to educate yourself about this world," Hiei warned him.

"Hiei, please," Kurama said, holding up a hand to indicate that he should calm down. "Yusuke, this is a complex matter. There is a long war ongoing within the cat demon tribe and nobody within demon world – or within any of the other worlds – gets involved in it."

"There's a war going on?" Yusuke asked.

Hiei yelled out a few choice curse words, scaring off the remaining few ravens from the vicinity of the tower.

"Yes, Yusuke, there is a war going on within the cat demon tribe," Kurama answered. "On one side of the war there is the leader of the cat demon tribe – an A Class cat demon – and he is assisted by a large group of B Class cat demons and a small handful of C, D and even E Class cat demons."

"Doesn't sound so bad," Yusuke said with a shrug.

"On the other side, is a small band of C, D and E class cat demons."

Yusuke tilted his head to one side as though confused by Kurama's last statement.

"They call themselves "Raspberry Sundae"," Hiei added.

"Raspberry Sundae?" Yusuke echoed. "Like the ice cream dish?"

"No, not like the ice cream dish," Kurama corrected him. "Like the flower."

"No, not like the flower!" Hiei snapped irritably. "Like the code name their martyred rebel leader used."

Yusuke slowly shook his head.

"I don't really follow," he admitted. "And I don't really care."

"It's very complex Yusuke," Kurama said solemnly.

"So tell me the least complex version," Yusuke suggested, his tone bordering on sarcasm.

"Long ago, all the cat demons lived as one tribe united."

Hiei was amazed that Kurama had the patience to even attempt to tell the story to Yusuke, who was clearly every bit as disinterested as he had claimed to be.

"The leader of the tribe did some radical things that ultimately led to the structure of the clan changing," Kurama continued. "Soon they reached the point where the only powerful demons in the tribe were the male cat demons. Currently, all the B Class cat demons are male. The females are primarily E Class demons – with a few D Class and the occasional C Class. Obsessed with power absolute, the leader of the cat demons decreed that he needed to take a lover to bear him children, but that only a powerful cat demon would suffice. By chance, one such cat demon was born into the tribe: she was born a B Class demon and rose to A Class status as she matured. But, rather than growing up to fulfil the leader's plans, she grew up resenting his rules and led a rebellion against him. The war between the powerful male cat demons and the weaker female cat demons began. It was never a balanced battle, but when about a third of the female cat demons chose to remain loyal to their leader, the remaining small pocket of low-powered rebels were slaughtered or driven out of their homes. The one strong female cat demon continued to fight for a long, long time. However one day the loyalist cat demons caught up to her and they slaughtered her. Her accomplices all fled, but, rather than surrender as the loyalists had expected they would with their leader gone, they continued to fight. They diminish in number every year: some are killed in battle, some are taken prisoner back to the cat demon's homelands and either tortured or "reprogrammed" to be malleable subjects to their leader and some even die of old age. The problem is that the way the war erupted – pitting gender against gender – there are very few female cat demons remaining in demon world and those that are still alive are considered valuable property. The leader of the cat demon tribe offers great rewards for the return of a rebel and he is not the only one who would attack anyone who killed a female cat demon. As a former prominent bandit of this realm let me tell that every bandit here hopes for the day he will encounter a female cat demon so that he can collect the bounty on her head."

"And as a former prominent bandit of this realm let me tell you that we didn't hesitate to seek out and slaughter anyone or anything we thought was responsible for killing off what precious few bounties there were to collect," Hiei added.

"Which is exactly why I told you not to kill that girl today," Kurama reminded him.

"Aw come on!" Yusuke said. "Surely some B Class pussies couldn't be a real threat to Hiei if he had killed that E Class pussy back in the living world, right?"

"It's not the wrath of the cat demons you have to fear," Kurama warned.

Yusuke nodded and, for the first time since Kurama and Hiei's arrival, he looked serious.

"So we need to find this girl and get her back here alive, right?" he asked.

"Right, exactly," Kurama agreed.

"And then we can collect the bounty on her head."

Kurama and Yusuke both turned to Hiei and he was surprised to see just how disgusted they both looked.

"She made me look a fool, slipping through my patrol like that," he pointed out. "It's a matter of honour. If I can't kill her, somebody else at least should!"

"Which brings us nicely to the next problem," Kurama began.

"There's more?" Yusuke asked. "Great…"

"We didn't detect her approach," Kurama continued. "Not even Kuwabara could feel her arrival. It was as though she had no demon aura whatsoever. Finding her is going to be a momentous task and no doubt word will quickly spread around demon world that she is in the living world, which will draw unwanted attention towards the living world and spirit world know she is there and they have already asked for her extraction."

"So?" Yusuke asked.

"So if an officer of spirit world kills that girl, the loyalist cat demons, the rebel cat demons and every bandit in demon world will rain down an almighty fury on spirit world: a literal war of the worlds will erupt."

"I still don't get why the "loyalists" care what happens to the rebels. Surely if she dies it's just one less problem for them, right?"

"No. They want her alive. They want the pleasure of either killing her of subjugating her into the role of abject slavery she suffered before the rebellion began."

"Harsh."

"But that's the situation."

Yusuke grinned.

"So you came to the master for help and guidance?" he asked, touching a hand to his chest smugly.

"The cat we're looking for has an implanted jagan eye."

Kurama turned to Hiei so quickly his hair whipped around and narrowly missed slapping the fire demon across the face.

"What?"

"She had an implanted jagan eye. Which is unusual, because Shigure is dead, so either she had that operation performed on her long ago or there is a new surgeon in demon world."

Kurama's mouth twitched in an animalistic expression of anger, a momentary flash of his teeth making him once more look like his demon self.

"How long have you known that?" he asked, the irritation clear in his voice.

"I'm taking a leap of faith," Hiei sarcastically replied. "She was clearly using a psychic technique to hide herself from detection, cats are not naturally gifted with such abilities and she was wearing a bandana around her head."

"That's good detective work," Yusuke commented.

"Such a compliment coming from a former spirit detective," Hiei muttered.

"Exactly!" Yusuke agreed.

"I believe he was being facetious," Kurama told Yusuke.

"That means I was mocking you," Hiei added when he saw that vaguely strained look appear on Yusuke's face that implied he did not know the definition of the word "facetious".

"I knew that!" Yusuke lied. "And anyway, long story short: the three of us need to go the living world and hunt down Pussy Galore, right?"

Kurama sighed.

"Does this task really have to involve you making tenuous puns the entire time?" he asked.

"Why don't you just give us all your best ones now, get it out of your system and then we can get back to work," Hiei suggested. "I want this fixed and I want it fixed quickly. The longer we take to find this bitch the more humiliating it is for me."

Yusuke opened his mouth to answer but stopped when Kurama held up a hand.

"Please, Yusuke, let's just deal with this," he said.

Yusuke shrugged.

"It was a good one," he said quietly.

"Save it for your good friend Kuwabara," Hiei snorted.

"Kuwabara's helping us out?" Yusuke asked cheerfully. "That's cool. I was supposed to visit the living world for some reunion dinner him and Keiko were trying to set up, but this is even better: two birds, one stone."

Hiei groaned and rolled his eyes; but, deep down, he was relieved that Yusuke's focus was making cat jokes and talking about his human friends rather than interrogating Hiei about the failure of his border patrol.


	2. What You Know

**Chapter 2 – What You Know**

Yukina stood by the large sliding glass doors overlooking the back garden of the Kuwabara household. She was not really sure how long she had been there, but it was rapidly getting dark outside and she felt that somebody – Kuwabara, Keiko, Botan, Kurama or even Mister Kuwabara or Shizuru – should have come back to the house already. The darker the sky outside the doors grew, the deeper her frown became as she watched it. As the bluish glow on the horizon darkened over, the last traces of daylight fading, Yukina saw something moving on the very edge of her vision. She turned her head slightly, squinting through the darkness at the small shadow moving on one corner of the garden. As the shadow drew closer, the security light above the doors triggered and the patio outside was suddenly brightly illuminated, the sudden change almost paining her eyes; but she was relieved of it as it showed a simple calico cat stalking moths in the garden.

And a pile of petals on the centre slab of the patio.

Yukina froze, her eyes large and staring at the pink and cream petals before her. There was no logical reason for them to be there, set in such a neat pile, and no obvious source for them within the garden. She reached a trembling hand out towards the handle of the sliding doors, gripping it as firmly as she could before attempting to open the door. She was not entirely surprised to find that the door was locked; but she was surprised to see that the key was not still in the door. She fumbled for the lightswitch to aid her search for the key, but as she turned on the interior light the exterior security light cut off and the glass doors ahead of her showed only a blurry reflection of the room behind her.

Yukina froze again, her hand still on the lightswitch.

"Hello again."

Yukina slowly retracted her hand from the lightswitch, her eyes locked unblinkingly on the reflection of the intruder standing at the other end of the room behind her.

"I've been following you for some time."

Yukina swallowed carefully before turning around to face the cat demon.

"I was waiting for the right moment to approach you."

"So you decided to do it when you saw a raspberry sundae? That's very distasteful."

The cat demon smiled wryly.

"You don't remember me, do you Yukina?"

Yukina slowly shook her head: she had encountered a few cat demons during her time in demon world, but there was really only one she could remember clearly.

"I'm Tora," the cat demon continued. "Maybe you don't recognise me because of this."

She pointed to the bandana covering her forehead.

"It's new," she added.

Yukina nodded, but she was not really listening. Her attention was alternating between thinking of ways to escape and wondering if Kuwabara's psychic link to her would hear her if she asked him for help inside her head.

"I can tell you don't want to be here any more than I do," Tora continued. "So I'll cut to the chase: I'm looking for Raspberry Sundae and when I look, I keep finding you."

Yukina rapidly shook her head.

"I-I'm not – I mean I don't – I'm not who you seek!" she stammered.

"I think you are," Tora replied. "Ever since I got this third eye, all I can see is you. I think you know something that might be useful to me. I think you know the truth about Raspberry Sundae."

"I-I don't know anything!" Yukina cried. "I promise you! I can't tell you anything you don't already know!"

"I disagree."

Tora took a step forwards and Yukina took a step back, her heel and one elbow colliding with the glass door behind her.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Tora said.

"I don't believe you," Yukina replied in a low voice.

"Do you know what Raspberry Sundae actually is, Yukina?"

"It's a weapon," Yukina replied. "But it was destroyed along with your leader a long time ago. Everybody knows that."

"It would be very unwise for you to lie to me. I can see the truth."

"I'm telling you the truth. I remember the day your leader was caught and killed. She had her weapon with her. If it was taken from her, then those who killed her must have it."

"Oh but I don't think you can tell me anything I don't already know about a weapon. I think you can tell me something about what really happened to my leader that day."

Yukina shook her head and tried to step back again, her entire body thumping against the glass door.

"I think you saw something," Tora continued, taking another step forwards. "And if you tell me now, I promise I'll leave and never bother you again."

"I didn't see anything, I swear!" Yukina insisted.

Though, she thought to herself, even if she had seen anything that day she would never tell anyone, least of all a cat demon. She had no idea whether Tora was one of the band of rebel cat demons or whether she was a loyalist spy: and either way, divulging any information about the former leader of the rebellion was a dangerous thing to do. Tora started to cross the room and Yukina pressed herself as hard as she could against the glass doors; and, as though she needed to be shown how nervous she felt, she heard a crackling behind her as adrenaline turned into leaking demon energy from her body, freezing the glass as she pressed against it.

Tora stopped, her eyes wandering upwards above Yukina's head. Yukina dared to glance up and saw white crystal veins of ice creeping outwards across the glass from her body in every direction. They met eyes again and Tora looked slightly less confident than she had before.

"Hmm, I see," she said. "I misunderstood. I thought the signal I was getting from you was that you knew what happened to our leader, but now I see that's not true. You don't know anything. You just hope that what you've been told isn't true."

Yukina gave a small nod of her head.

"Y-yes," she admitted. "I always hoped your leader wasn't killed that day. But… She vanished. She was surrounded and she vanished. And she's never been seen or heard of since – and I know it's silly to hope, but…"

Tora smiled.

"It's not silly," she said. "It's a nice thought. A very naïve and frankly quite pathetic thought, but a nice thought nonetheless."

She sighed and shrugged.

"Well I'll assume you're being honest with me," she concluded. "Of course if I find out that you've lied to me I'll come back and kill you."

Yukina thumped against the glass door again as Tora started to move; but to her relief, the cat demon leapt back out of the room and disappeared into the shadows of the house. After several seconds of silence Yukina eventually worked up the courage to turn around and peer outside again; through the darkness she could see that the petals were gone and that was indication enough to her that she was once more alone.

* * *

"Do they attack using hairballs?"

Kurama sighed.

"You've encountered feline demons before," Hiei reminded Yusuke.

"Yeah, I know," Yusuke agreed as he kicked at a discarded beer can at the edge of the road. "But it's really fun for me watching how much my cat jokes piss you off."

"There is perhaps one discussion we should have on the back of the subject Yusuke has raised."

Hiei turned to Kurama, eying him over incredulously. They had all returned to the living world and as such, Kurama had returned to his human form: no longer a silver-haired fox, he was again a red-haired man-boy inexplicably wearing ridiculous glasses.

"You want to discuss whether or not cat demons use hairballs offensively in battle?" Hiei asked him.

"No," Kurama replied through a small laugh as though he thought Hiei was making a joke. "I meant that we should discuss what offensive techniques cat demons are known to use."

"We're talking about an E Class demon, Kurama," Hiei pointed out. "Even Kuwabara could wipe her out of existence without skipping a beat."

"And perhaps we should also discuss the fact that we need to capture her, not kill her," Kurama added, looking suddenly more serious.

"I don't get why you guys are dismissing my catnip idea," Yusuke said with a shrug.

"One good reason why that won't work is that catnip only has a subduing effect on cats from the living world, it has no effect on cat demons," Kurama patiently replied. "Another good reason is that catnip, in its rawest form, is a plant and cat demons use plants as weapons."

Yusuke frowned.

"I thought that was something only you did, Kurama," he said.

"No," Kurama replied.

"Idiot," Hiei muttered, before deftly side-stepping as Yusuke aimed a kick at his rear-end.

"It's something many animal demons do," Kurama explained. "Some fox demons do it and the entire tribe of cat demons do it. It's their primary mode of battle."

"Just like you?" Yusuke asked.

"In some cases, yes," Kurama replied quietly.

Hiei snorted and Yusuke shot him a curious look; but the dark look on Kurama's face stopped him from explaining his outburst to Yusuke.

"Some are more skilled at controlling plants than others," Kurama eventually added.

"So what you're saying is that none of those pussies can handle a whip as well as you can, Kurama?"

Kurama sighed and Hiei groaned.

"You're going to be like this until we get this girl back to demon world, aren't you?" Kurama asked Yusuke.

"Hn, he'll be like this long after we dump the girl back in demon world," Hiei grumbled. "You know what he's like when he thinks he's being funny…"

"You guys!" Yusuke said, putting an arm around each of his friends. "I've missed you guys!"

* * *

Botan was speeding through the air, one hand on her oar, the other supporting a demon compass which her eyes were fixed on. She was getting many conflicting signals and the one she had been chasing kept going out of range, forcing her to fly faster and faster, the wind whistling past her ears. The needle on the compass spun wildly to one side and an instant later she saw something flicking at the corner of her eye; she barely had time to drop the compass and grab onto her oar with both hands before she began to fall.

Something that looked alarmingly like Kurama's rose whip was tangled around her oar at the point where the handle met the blade and it was pulling her oar backwards and downwards with such force that she soon found herself only hanging on by her hands and then only by one hand and then, as she started falling through tree branches, she lost hold of her oar altogether. She crashed and screamed her way through the trees – which did at least slow her descent – before finally landing with a splat against the mossy, muddy forest floor. She paused long enough to groan before trying to lift herself, slipping in the mud and moss and discovering that her kimono and her hair were tangled in the undergrowth, holding her in place. Tears warmed her eyes as one arm slid out from under her and her weight caught on her hair, her scalp straining painfully.

"Hello, spirit world servant."

Botan froze at the sound of the voice apparently addressing her. When she heard a small noise to one side of her she moved her eyes towards it, seeing a pair of surprisingly clean feet in brown gladiator sandals by her right shoulder.

"Oh, don't worry, it's not you I have a problem with."

Botan tilted her head as far as she could and rolled her eyes upwards; but in the darkness of the forest all she could make out was the silhouetted outline of a figure standing over her.

"I've got some questions I need to ask Koenma in spirit world," the voice continued. "And I think you might be a good way to get to him."

"I'll never take you to spirit world!" Botan protested.

She struggled futilely against her bonds before resigning with a small sob of pain. She felt the figure crouch down at her side and she tensed: but to her surprise, hands began untangling her from her bonds, quickly freeing her entirely. She shot to her feet and whipped out her steel baseball bat, staring warily at what she could now see was a young female cat demon before her.

"Ordinarily I'd find it really funny that you think you could fend me off," the demon said. "But I don't have time to joke around right now. I have reason to believe spirit world might have some valuable information on those who slaughtered my leader. Is that something you can retrieve for me?"

Botan screamed and wildly swung her bat about as the cat demon appeared to take a step closer to her.

"Stay away from me, you meanie!" she cried. "If you don't, Yusuke and Kuwabara and Kurama and even Hiei will come after you!"

Botan slowly stopped swinging her bat as she became aware of the change in the cat demon's demeanour: the girl was staring at her, her surprise evident despite the darkness.

"What did you just say?" she asked quietly as Botan lowered her bat to her side.

"I said you stay away from me, you meanie…" Botan weakly replied, her bat slipping slightly in her muddy hand.

"After that…" the demon pressed.

"Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama and Hiei will come after you…?"

"Hmm, that's what I thought I heard. That's interesting."

Botan opened her mouth, though she was not really sure why as she did not know what to say next. She had hoped that the demon would take her threat seriously and leave, but she seemed more curious than fearful.

"Curiosity killed the cat!" Botan blurted out suddenly as the idea occurred to her.

"Indeed," the demon said dryly. "Let's forego the small talk and get down to business: how likely is it that you will make me a valuable hostage? If I took you prisoner, how big a ransom would your bosses in spirit world – and your friends in demon world – pay to have you released?"

"Lord Koenma does not negotiate with terrorists!" Botan retorted.

"Ah, so in other words a servant like you is expendable and not worth the effort capturing?"

"How dare you!"

Botan readied her bat again but the cat demon vanished in the blink of an eye, leaving Botan alone in the dark forest, her clothing torn and her entire being muddied and moss-stained.

* * *

Kuwabara returned to his family house to find it full of chattering voices, which he followed to the dining room, finding Keiko and Shizuru chatting cheerfully at the table over plates of food.

"Hey," he greeted them.

"Oh Kuwabara!" Keiko said, turning her head to look directly at him. "Did you find any traces of the missing cat demon?"

Kuwabara slowly pulled out a chair at the opposite end of the table from her and carefully sat down into it.

"Uh, no," he meekly answered her.

"Darn!" Keiko said. "Neither did I!"

"Same here," Shizuru said.

Yukina entered the room with a glass of fruit juice and a welcoming smile, but Kuwabara's attention was still on his sister.

"Where's dad?" he asked her.

"Welcome back, Kazuma," Yukina said as she placed the drink on the table in front of him. "I made dinner while everyone was out, are you hungry?"

"Dad has his karaoke night with the boys from work tonight, remember?" Shizuru said.

"This is so frustrating!" Keiko said with a sigh. "I sure hope we find this demon soon!"

"Right…" Kuwabara muttered, giving her one last sceptical look before turning his attention to Yukina, who was sitting down at his side, facing him from around the corner of the table. "I'm sorry I had to leave you alone tonight, Yukina my love," he said to her. "Especially since Wednesday is usual one of our special nights together."

"It's alright, I understand," Yukina assured him.

"I hope my sister didn't talk your ear off the whole time I was gone," Kuwabara added in a whisper.

By the way Shizuru was glaring at him he realised he had not been as quiet as he had hoped.

"Actually, Shizuru only got here ten minutes ago," Yukina replied. "She met Keiko on the way here and they returned together."

"So you were alone this whole time?" Kuwabara asked. "On our special date night?"

"It's alright, it gave me time to prepare dinner for you all."

"And nothing happened while we were gone?" Keiko interrupted, much to Kuwabara's chagrin. "You didn't get a call or a visit from Botan or Kurama or anything at all?"

Yukina shook her head.

"I just set about making dinner," she said sweetly, before quietly rising from her chair and leaving the room.

"Oh well," Keiko said with a sigh. "Maybe Kurama will find something to help us in demon world."

"It's kinda strange that nobody felt the presence of a demon in the living world," Shizuru commented casually before taking a sip of her tea.

"Are you saying my keen senses are failing me?" Kuwabara snapped at her.

Shizuru slowly lowered her mug of tea to the table.

"I didn't sense anything either," she reminded him. "Relax baby bro, nobody's accusing anyone of anything here."

"Yeah, but I'm the one who can always feel the presence of a demon," Kuwabara moaned. "And she just fell right out of the sky today and I didn't feel anything!"

"Hey, I'm the one who should feel bad about this, not you," Shizuru assured him. "I'm supposed to be assisting the spirit detective and I'm not doing a very good job if I can't even sense or find a little cat demon."

Yukina placed a plate of steaming hot food down in front of Kuwabara but he barely noticed it.

"What…?" he muttered, frowning at his sister.

"Well, since you're busy with school and you already served your time for spirit world, Koenma thought maybe I should get someone else to help me," Keiko said.

"…What…?" Kuwabara muttered.

"I've done a little training with Kuroko Sato too," Shizuru said, sounding far too casual for Kuwabara's liking. "She's taught me how to focus my energy and how to stay in control when really dark, negative energies weaken me."

"…Why the hell are you training with the old spirit detective?"

"We just told you why!" Keiko snapped irritably. "I'm the new spirit detective and Shizuru is the new…"

"I'm the new Kuwabara," Shizuru finished for her, raising her mug of tea in a mock toast.

"Wait…" he said slowly. "Is this a joke…? This has to be a joke, right?"

"A joke?" Keiko echoed. "Why would we joke about this?"

"You think the only way I could fight is as part of a joke?" Shizuru said, thumping her mug down onto the table again.

"N-no!" Kuwabara replied. "It's just that… You're both girls!"

"Why don't you just shut-up and eat your dinner?" Shizuru suggested darkly.

Kuwabara opened his mouth to argue further, but the dark look his sister was giving him and the irate look Keiko was giving him was warning enough and so he quietly lowered his head and started on his meal.

"Oh wow, this is amazing!" he said through his first mouthful of food.

Yukina, who had sat down at his side once more, smiled sweetly.

"See Yukina is a real girl, not like the two of you with your…"

Kuwabara slowly stopped talking as he caught sight of the glares his sister and Keiko were giving him.

"I'll just shut-up and eat my dinner now," he muttered.

* * *

Botan stumbled into Koenma's office, her splintered oar in one hand and her other hand tugging a prickly twig from her hair.

"Botan!" Koenma yelped as he caught sight of her.

"I had an accident Sir," she snivelled, flicking aside the twig. "And on the way back here, it started to rain. Which was good in a way, because the rain washed away some of the mud and moss, but it did also drench me from head to toe."

"You're dripping all over my office!" Koenma barked, pointing a small, chubby finger at her from his seat behind his desk.

"Oh yes, a towel would be lovely," she replied.

Koenma's face fell.

"I didn't offer you a towel," he growled.

"I need to check something in the library," Botan began. "Kuwabara saw the demon–"

"First of all Botan you have to get out of my office and clean yourself up," Koenma cut her off. "You cannot stay in here making a mess like this and you definitely cannot go into the library and make a mess there! And secondly, if Kuwabara saw the demon that's escaped into the living world, why didn't he do something about it?"

"Oh dear," Botan said, tilting her head to one side. "You seem a little snippy today Sir."

Koenma thumped his stamp down onto a one of the many pieces of paper sprawled across his desk.

"Did you just sign off another piece of paperwork?" Botan asked.

"Yes I did," he tightly replied. "It involved you and a very sharp stick."

Botan looked momentarily worried before laughing nervously. She started to tell Koenma how much she enjoyed his jokes but he quickly cut her off.

"Where is the escaped demon now Botan?" he asked as patiently as he possibly could.

"I don't know Sir," she replied. "I was following her with the demon compass – or rather, I thought I was following her with the demon compass – when suddenly, out of nowhere, I began falling out of the sky–"

"Do you have anything useful at all to report to me?"

"Not really Sir. All I know is that the demon approached Kuwabara, Kurama, Hiei and Yukina in the living world. I believe she ripped up a plant Kurama had bought for his mother and then she ran off."

"The demon approached Kuwabara, Kurama, Hiei and Yukina and none of them thought to apprehend her?"

"She's quite sneaky Sir. She attacked me."

Botan waved a hand at her dirty and dishevelled clothing to illustrate her point.

"…And you did nothing to apprehend her either?" Koenma asked through gritted teeth.

"She took me by surprise!" Botan cried. "And she tried to take me hostage! She said she wanted to see you Koenma Sir!"

"A lot of demons want to see me."

"That's true, you are very unpopular in demon world. A great many demons would like to kill you with their own hands."

Koenma glared at Botan, who was nodding as though she had no idea how blunt she had just been.

"Well get yourself cleaned up, go back to the living world and tell Kuwabara to help Keiko and Shizuru in apprehending this demon," he said, hoping to bring Botan back to the point of their conversation.

"Oh but I wanted to use the library first," she replied, much to his chagrin. "I need to check some facts."

Botan began rummaging around in her sleeves before eventually recovering a slightly sodden notebook, which she flicked through curiously.

"I don't appear to have any notes whatsoever on the type of demon we encountered," she muttered to herself. "I thought perhaps there might be something on cat demons in the library."

Botan flicked through her notebook twice more before looking up and appearing to notice the unblinking way Koenma was staring at her.

"Did you say cat demons or rat demons?" he asked as their eyes met.

"Cat demons," Botan replied.

"Cats like… With the claws and the furry ears and the whiskers?" Koenma asked quietly.

"Well the cat demon I saw was more human than cat in appearance, though she did have furry ears," Botan replied.

Koenma nodded slowly.

"Is that bad?" Botan asked.

"No, it's not bad…" Koenma muttered, slipping one hand under his desk and pressing a red button positioned there. "Botan I need you to go back to the living world right now, without delay, and I need you to make sure that Kuwabara and Kurama – and Hiei, if he's still there – all search for this cat demon. I'm going to send word for Yusuke to assist with this. I also want you to tell Keiko to stand down."

Botan tilted her head as though confused.

"This isn't something she's ready to handle," Koenma explained. "I need you to also tell everyone that I want that cat demon captured – unharmed – and I want her returned to demon world as soon as possible."

"Of course, I'll get right–"

"No Botan, I need this done immediately."

"I was about to leave – in this muddy mess that I am, because I am dedicated to my job – and make sure that everybody gets your message."

"If that cat demon is not back in demon world within 24 hours, I will be deploying the SDF to complete this task. Do you understand?"

Botan screwed up her face and Koenma sighed.

"This is a very complex matter," he said.

"Too complex to share the details with your favourite ferry girl?" Botan said sweetly, pulling her best cat face.

"That expression is inappropriate," Koenma warned her. "You're not my favourite ferry girl, you haven't been here long enough to remember why cat demons are a significant issue for us here in spirit world and I don't have time to try to explain something this complicated to you."

Botan pulled a sad kitty face and Koenma stood abruptly.

"Get out of my office and don't come back until someone has apprehended that cat girl!" he barked.

Botan moaned dejectedly but obeyed the order, backing out of Koenma's office and narrowly missing stepping on someone who was waiting outside the room. Koenma waved at Botan to leave and beckoned the girl behind her to enter. Botan paused as though she might attempt to re-enter the office, but Koenma quickly threw a book at her and she fled. The girl entered his office, closing the door behind herself before approaching his desk.

"We have a problem," Koenma said solemnly.

The girl nodded, her long pink hair rustling at the sides of her head as she did so.

"I need the key for the Raspberry Sundae file," Koenma told her.

Her blue eyes grew wide, but otherwise she did not respond.

"And I need to ask that you don't tell anyone that you have relinquished the key to me," Koenma added. "If anybody asks you, I expect you to refuse to divulge the location of the key and I expect you to protect that information with your very soul. Do you understand me?"

She nodded again and then silently set about the task he had set for her.

* * *

"Urameshi, hey," Kuwabara said as Yusuke entered the room.

"You don't sound so happy to see me Kuwabara," Yusuke replied with a smirk. "Try saying that again, once more, this time with more feline."

"Oh God…" Kuwabara groaned.

"Get used to it, he's been at it since the moment we found him," Hiei spat bitterly as he stomped into the room.

"Any news on the missing demon?" Kurama asked as he joined them all.

"Sorry, no," Keiko answered him.

"It's a little strange that this girl managed to slip past all the barriers and everyone's detection," Shizuru commented.

"Is that a dig at me?" Hiei and Kuwabara asked her in unison.

"Wow, it's not often the two of you think alike," Yusuke said.

"It is very unusual but we must press on," Kurama said. "We should split up into teams to search."

"Right," Yusuke agreed. "I'll go with Keiko – it's a good training experience for her, one spirit detective to another–"

"You knew Keiko was the new spirit detective?" Kuwabara interrupted.

"You didn't?" Yusuke echoed.

"But you've been in demon world for months! How did you find out when I don't even know?"

Yusuke started to answer him but Hiei held up a hand to stop him.

"Don't let the idiot interrupt you with the machinations of his feeble mind," he said.

"The "machinations of his feeble mind", huh?" Yusuke repeated. "That's a good one, Hiei."

Kuwabara glowered at Hiei, who simply continued to look bored and mildly irritated with everyone and everything around him.

"Okay, so I'll go with Keiko," Yusuke continued. "Kurama you go with Shizuru and Hiei you can go on your own."

"Hey, what about me?" Kuwabara protested.

"You need to stay here," Yusuke told him. "So that we have someone to report back to and also in case catwoman comes here looking for us."

"Oh no," Yukina said, standing abruptly from the table. "I-I mean, it's okay. I will be here, you can all report back to me, I can take a message."

"But you need somebody here in case the demon we're after comes here," Yusuke reminded her.

She shook her head.

"I can't think why the demon would come here," she said.

"…You can make money with your tears?" Yusuke reminded her.

"I can also erect a forcefield to protect myself," she replied.

"Yukina, none of us – not even Kuwabara – have been able to detect this demon's approach," Kurama pointed out. "You wouldn't know to cast a protective aura until she was already too close to you for it to be effective."

"You left me alone earlier and I was fine," Yukina told him. "It's no problem, really."

"I kinda want to find this cat lady anyway," Kuwabara said.

"Fine, then you team up with Hiei," Yusuke replied.

"I don't think so," Hiei snorted.

"Fine, then both of you go on your own," Yusuke sighed. "We'll meet back here at ten o'clock. If anyone doesn't get back by ten-thirty, we'll come looking for you."

"I'll be back in ten minutes with that cat's head on the end of my blade…" Hiei grumbled as he marched out of the kitchen.

"Hiei, we've already had this discussion," Kurama reminded him.

The others all filed out of the dining room until only Yukina remained. She waited until the front door had closed and the sound of voices in the street outside had faded before making her way back into the kitchen: where she was not entirely surprised to find Koenma, in his adult form, waiting for her.

"I didn't hear you come in," she said, moving towards the sink. "Would you like some tea?"

"You and I both know I'm not here about tea, Yukina," he solemnly replied. "I need you tell me how much you really know about Raspberry Sundae."


	3. Yokorina

**Chapter 3 – Yokorina**

"So how's life as spirit detective?" Yusuke asked as he and Keiko walked along the street together.

"Not nearly as hard as you always made it sound," she replied with a smile.

"Is that your signature attack now?" he asked. "Nasty comebacks? Who taught you that one: Kuwabara's sister?"

Keiko laughed and shook her head.

"Seriously though, are you sure you wanna get involved in all this?" Yusuke asked. "Even if there isn't so much fighting any more, you're still taking orders from Koenma and that's gotta sting."

"Koenma is another part of the job that isn't nearly as difficult as you made it out to be," Keiko replied.

"That's just because you haven't seen him at his worst. But I think you're about to."

"What do you mean?"

"A low level demon just showed up in the living world and when I was on my way back here, I got a message telling me Koenma wants me, Kuwabara, Kurama and Hiei on the case. Before he's asking all four of us to pitch in, something fishy's going on."

"Like what?"

"I got no idea: but that's part of the "fun" of working with Koenma and spirit world. They only ever tell you the absolute minimum amount of information you need to start working on something and only if it starts to blow up in their faces do they bother telling you the rest of the story."

"You just have a negative opinion of them because of how they all treated you when you turned out to be a demon."

"Oh yeah?"

Keiko stopped walking and turned to face Yusuke – who stopped at her side – ready to tell him exactly how wrong he was; but she hesitated when she realised that he was pointing at something behind her. She looked back over her shoulder in time to see a very dirty and pathetic looking Botan crash-land her damaged oar onto a car roof. The ferry girl yelped out a few "oopsies" and "oh dears" as she slid down the windscreen and over the wing mirror, landing on one hip on the street.

"Hey Botan," Yusuke called over to her. "Is Koenma ready to tell us the whole story yet?"

"Oh Yusuke!" she called back. "I'm so glad you're here! Koenma wants your help to find the missing cat demon! He said you must find her and bring her back to demon world alive and that if you don't do it in the next 24 hours, he is going to despatch the SDF to do it."

Yusuke turned to Keiko, smiling knowingly. She stared back up at him, her face pale and her dark eyes wide.

"All that and we still don't know the whole story yet," he said to her quietly. "Just wait until this starts going badly, the SDF get involved, Koenma throws a fit and he's forced to tell you more."

Keiko turned back to look at Botan, who appeared to have gotten the end of her ponytail entangled on one of the wiper blades on the car she had crashed into. She was trying to stand up and almost bending over backwards as she did so, yelping and sobbing each time her hair tugged her painfully backwards.

"And that is the typical level of competence in spirit world," Yusuke said to Keiko as she watched Botan's pitiful performance. "Koenma is a little smarter than that but less physically able. Feeling scared yet?"

Keiko groaned miserably.

* * *

"It's a type of frozen dessert."

Koenma narrowed his eyes in what he thought was a menacing glare, but Yukina kept her eyes on the sink ahead of herself.

"That's not what I meant and you know it," he said sternly.

"We have black tea, green tea or white tea," she replied, her eyes still on the sink. "Which do you prefer?"

"Yukina, you have to tell me what you know."

Yukina finally turned to look directly at Koenma.

"It's also a flower," she said.

Koenma sighed.

"Black tea?" she offered.

"Okay," he replied.

He paced around the kitchen as Yukina meticulously set about her task of making a pot of tea; he strongly suspected she was deliberately drawing out the process, but he did not question her on the matter. When she finally passed him a mug of tea he accepted it and held out a hand towards the dining room.

"Come and sit with me, I want to tell you a story," he offered.

She nodded and led the way into the dining room. He waited until she had sat down before choosing the chair opposite her and sitting down there, leaning his elbows onto the table to bring himself closer to her.

"There is a tribe of cat demons in demon world," he began, watching her carefully for any response as he spoke. "And though they were once united, they became divided. One group was strong, the other was weak. The weak group had a leader who was known by the code name "Raspberry Sundae". She lived very dangerously and one day she was brutally slaughtered. Those who took her life have since been searching for any of her allies and killing them off one by one. Anyone who ever had any association with "Raspberry Sundae" is in danger. Do you understand me?"

"No," Yukina replied, before giving a small, innocent smile. "Though I don't really understand very much about demon world politics. I grew up in the ice village and we had no contact with the rest of demon world."

Koenma took a large swig of his tea, almost glad of the distraction burning his mouth gave him.

"I'm trying to impress two things upon you right now," he said, deciding to be more direct with her in the hope of making her realise the gravity of the situation. "First of all, the leader of the rebel cat demons is gone. And secondly, anybody who ever dealt with the leader of the rebel cat demons in any way should stay well clear of the cat demons: the rebels as well as the loyalists. In fact, anybody who has ever dealt with the leader of the rebel cat demons should find a safe place to go to if that anybody thinks they might come into contact with a cat demon. Do you understand me now Yukina?"

"That sounds scary," Yukina said sadly. "I hope Kazuma returns home soon, safe and sound."

"Right…" Koenma grumbled into his mug of tea. "Because Kuwabara is the one we should be worried about here…"

* * *

Kuwabara was sure Yusuke had been playing some sort of juvenile joke on him when he had assigned him the south-west corner of Sarayashiki to search, since the majority of the south-west corner of the city was taken up by a junk yard. After clearing the fence and dodging past several rats that looked fearsome enough to be residents of demon world, he climbed the highest mound of waste and began looking around the yard. As he stood on the spot, looking about himself, he started to realise how bad the smell around him was, how ridiculous his task was, how annoying it was that Yusuke was not taking the mission seriously and how nothing had really made any sense since that cat demon had appeared.

The cat demon had appeared undetected by anyone, she had made Kurama look weak and pathetic and since she had appeared, Keiko had suddenly become the new spirit detective, Shizuru had become her assistant and Hiei had been in an even worse mood than usual. And the cat demon had only appeared because Kurama, Hiei and even Yukina had been talking about "raspberry sundae" and obsessing over the frankly quite ugly little flower Kurama had put on the table. He again wondered what it was about that flower that had captivated all the demons so: even the cat demon had been fascinated by it.

And then Kuwabara had a great idea.

"Hey cat lady!" he yelled out, his voice echoing faintly in the far distance. "I've got all the raspberry sundae you could ever want! Come get it!"

He smiled and shrugged when nothing happened: he had not really expected anything to happen, but he had at least amused himself by trying.

"Tell me more."

Kuwabara spun around in time to see the cat demon from earlier that day landing on top of the mound of trash. He glanced up at the sky, half-expecting to see a flying carpet or some other logical explanation for why she kept falling out of the sky.

"Or don't, I have other ways of finding out what I need to know."

Kuwabara lowered his eyes to the cat demon again in time to see her remove her bandana, a jagan eye opening on her forehead. He winced at the sight of it – he had always hated Hiei's third eye – but it did little more than stare at him.

"Can you cover that back up now?" he asked after a short pause. "It's freaking me out."

To his surprise, she obligingly put her bandana back on.

"It appears the jagan eye is powerless against you," she said.

She looked about as concerned as she would have had she just lost a game of Jenga. Kuwabara started to feel that Yusuke was not the only one failing to take things seriously.

"No matter, it works perfectly well against your friends."

Kuwabara snapped back to attention.

"What did you just say?" he asked.

The cat demon smiled in an almost sympathetic way.

"I maybe didn't get anything from you, but I got something from one of your friends that tells me you could be very valuable to me as collateral," she said.

"Collateral?" Kuwabara repeated. "What do you mean?"

"She means we just figured out how much someone else is willing to pay for the safety of your fragile human life."

Kuwabara spun around to find another female cat demon suddenly standing behind him.

"Where the hell did you come from?" he yelped, stumbling back from her.

He did not want to fight either demon – because they were both female and also because Kurama had been very specific in his instructions that the cat demons should not be harmed – but he was starting to wish that he could at least draw his weapon, if only in the hope that it might encourage the demons to not get so close to him.

"He doesn't look so valuable to me."

Kuwabara turned to his right, tensing as a third cat demon dropped out of the sky.

"Don't be fooled by appearances."

Kuwabara turned around to see a fourth cat demon. Something small and hard flicked against his cheek and fell to the ground at his feet. He barely had time to recognise it as the seed of a demon plant and leap away from it before a giant, slimy, fanged flower burst out of the ground.

"Hey…" he said slowly.

He heard another small clicking sound and jumped again as another angry flower grew out of the pile of waste around him. He then found himself leaping about continuously as several more plants grew up: and a quick glance around told him that there were suddenly many more than just four cat demons throwing seeds at him. Out of desperation he summoned his sword and hacked off the head of one of the flowers, but as soon as the flowerhead fell it began crawling towards him, independent of its stalky body. He continued dodging the plants and the seeds as deftly as he could, but it quickly became apparent that they were forming an ever-decreasing circle around him, trapping him in place. Out of desperation he cut off another flowerhead and then leapt over the remains of the plant. As he landed, one foot stepped into an old soup pan and he lost his footing, falling into the trash.

The smell and the threat of attack had him quickly back on his feet, but as he was distracted by the angry, slimy flowers hissing at him, he took too long to notice that he had cut his hand when he fell and too long to notice that a demon seed had taken hold in the wound and started to sprout. He had just enough time to cry out in horror at the sight of the leaves unfurling from underneath his own skin before he passed out.

* * *

Hiei stopped abruptly. His gut reaction to noticing that Kuwabara's aura had vanished was to think it was typical that the human idiot would be the first to do something stupid. His next reaction was that he ought to check exactly what had happened. With a sigh of annoyance he sheathed his sword and removed his bandana, using his third eye to seek out Kuwabara. What he saw left him feeling quite ambivalent: he was as unsurprised as he was shocked. He then quickly sought out the others, finding that Kurama was closest and so he ran to meet him.

"Hiei!" Kurama gasped as Hiei dropped from a rooftop onto the street ahead of him. "Is everything alright?"

"No, it's really not," Hiei sneered. "We've had our first casualty. No prizes for guessing which idiot was stupid enough to get caught."

"…Are you talking about my brother?"

Hiei turned to the woman at Kurama's side.

"Who are you?" he asked her.

"This is Shizuru Kuwabara," Kurama answered. "You remember Shizuru Kuwabara don't you Hiei?"

"How unfortunate that you share a name with an idiot we also know called Kuwabara," Hiei told Shizuru.

"Kuwabara is Shizuru's brother, Hiei," Kurama hissed.

"Right," Hiei said with a nod of his head.

"Is he okay?" Shizuru asked. "Did something happen to him? I didn't feel anything…"

"He's been kidnapped by the cat demons."

"What?" Kurama and Shizuru said in unison.

"It seems there's more than one cat demon here in the living world," Hiei added. "I couldn't see them all clearly, but I would estimate there are eight or nine of them. And now they have Kuwabara."

"Why would they take Kazuma?" Shizuru asked Kurama.

"I don't know," Kurama replied, shaking his head.

"How could they take him?" she asked. "I thought you said these cat demons were weak?"

"Weak, but very cunning," he replied. "They could easily outwit a… Um…"

"A simpleton?" Hiei offered. "They could easily outwit a simpleton? Like Kuwabara?"

Kurama gave Hiei an admonishing look but he ignored the gesture.

"They've taken one of ours," he said. "First they openly mocked us and now they have made a blatant attack. This is surely cause enough to ignore spirit world's mandate."

Hiei drew out his sword to help illustrate his point.

"No Hiei!" Kurama said firmly. "We are not about to kill any cat demons!"

"You said yourself: they could have been here in the living world for long enough," Hiei replied with a shrug. "Anyone who knew of them in demon world will surely have forgotten about them already therefore I don't see the harm in erasing them from existence."

He swung his sword through the air and watched Kurama carefully to gauge his reaction.

"I'm with Hiei on this one," Shizuru said, causing Kurama's eyebrows to shoot upwards out of sight behind his hair. "We can't just let them take Kazuma – and before they managed to take him they must be much stronger than you all thought they were."

"We have to remain calm," Kurama said, lowering his eyebrows again. "It's imperative that we formulate a plan to find and approach the cat demons with care–"

"This situation is beyond reasoning," Hiei cut him off. "I saw eight or nine cats, there could be countless more. They've all escaped demon world undetected, this is a serious threat to the living world. Spirit world will be all over this if we don't fix it and the quickest way to fix it is to eliminate the source of the problem: we kill the cats."

"We cannot kill any of them," Kurama insisted.

"But we can beat some sense into them, right?" Shizuru asked.

"Shizuru, please," Kurama implored.

"This human woman speaks more sense than you, Kurama," Hiei said.

"Hiei you know this is wrong–"

"Can you imagine the bounty we could collect if we surrendered nine female cat demons?"

Kurama paused and Hiei smiled.

"I'm not agreeing with you on this Hiei," Kurama warned him. "And I never will."

Hiei started to argue with him but stopped short as a screaming voice filled the air and a mass of pink and blue landed on a nearby mailbox with a clatter.

"Botan?" Shizuru said, approaching the tangled mess.

"My goodness, this night just keeps getting worse…" Botan groaned as she carefully detached herself from the mailbox.

"Are you okay sweetie?" Shizuru asked, touching a hand to her shoulder. "You look like you've been through the wars!"

"Oh thank you so much for asking Shizuru," Botan said. "I've just had the worst night, nobody seems to–"

"Your timing is perfect, Botan," Kurama cut her off.

She leaned to one side to look past Shizuru at Kurama.

"It's not often anybody says that to me!" she said cheerfully.

"Fetch Yusuke and Keiko, we need to regroup," Kurama answered her.

Her face fell. When Kurama turned back to Hiei, Botan slowly looked up at Shizuru again.

"They got Kazuma," Shizuru told her.

"Oh dear!" Botan gasped.

"Hn, that's an understatement," Hiei spat. "Typical spirit world. You have no idea how serious this all is."

"Neither do you," Kurama said to Hiei. "You just suggested we round up those girls and take them to demon world to claim the bounties on their heads."

"And it was the first good idea anyone has had all day," Hiei plainly replied.

"You know you're being ridiculous," Kurama told him. "Botan, did you hear me? Go and fetch Yusuke and Keiko!"

Botan gasped at Kurama's outburst and Shizuru quickly stepped in front of her, putting her hands on the ferry girl's shoulders and looking her straight in the eye.

"Botan, my brother's in trouble," she said gently. "Please, do this for me. We need to find the big goofball before something bad happens to him."

Botan nodded and sat onto her battered oar.

"I'll bring Yusuke and Keiko here," she said. "For you, Shizuru. And for Kuwabara."

Shizuru nodded and stepped back as Botan began her wobbly ascent into the sky.

* * *

After a long, awkwardly silent evening sitting in the living room of the Kuwabara household with Yukina, Koenma was glad when someone knocked at the door: he did not even care who it might be. He watched Yukina expectantly, but she made no attempt to move.

"Aren't you going to get that?" he asked her.

"Oh no," she said, shaking her head. "It could be dangerous. It could be a trap."

Koenma narrowed his eyes at her before getting to his feet and going to the door himself. He was unsure how he would explain his presence in the house if he found a friend or relative of the Kuwabaras standing on the doorstep but he persevered, still simply glad of the distraction; and so he felt more than a little disappointed when he opened the door and found there was nobody there. He looked about outside for any signs of someone leaving but found none.

As he backed into the house he noticed the folded piece of paper on the doorstep.

He crouched down to retrieve it, opening it out and quickly reading over it. He slowly stood up again and folded the note over, pulling forward the front of his tunic with his free hand, readying himself to stuff the note into the folds of his clothing out of sight; but before he could complete his task a strong hand caught his wrist and another hand effortlessly plucked the note from his fingers.

"I saw that, you scheming little rugbrat," Yusuke said as their eyes met. "You were about to hide this from us."

Koenma looked over Yusuke's shoulder, seeing Keiko, Shizuru, Kurama, Hiei and even Botan.

"What is it Yusuke?" Kurama asked.

"A note," Yusuke replied. "And it's addressed to me!"

"What does it say?" Keiko asked.

""Dear Yusuke"," Yusuke read aloud. ""We have taken the one you call Kuwabara. Rest assured that if you do as we say, he will be returned to you unharmed. We understand that he is very precious to you. Meet us tomorrow at dawn at the city harbour. We expect you to give yourself as a trade for Kuwabara's freedom. We mean you no harm, but we have reason to believe that you are withholding information about Raspberry Sundae from us. If you willingly share this information we will gladly leave you alone and we will peacefully return to demon world.""

Yusuke turned his attention back to Koenma.

"Why were you trying to hide this from me?" he asked.

"It's not addressed to you!" Koenma replied, attempting in vain to snatch the note from Yusuke's hand.

"It is too!" Yusuke argued back. "The handwriting is pretty bad, but it looks to me like it says Yusuke. Keiko, wouldn't you agree?"

Yusuke passed the note to Keiko, who studied it for a moment.

"I think it says "Yukoenma"," she concluded.

"Huh?" Yusuke echoed.

"Let me see," Shizuru offered.

Keiko passed her the note and she too studied it.

"It's hard to say," she concluded. "It kinda looks like "Yokorina"."

"Huh?" Yusuke grunted again.

"It says Koenma!" Koenma said.

"It says Yusuke!" Yusuke insisted.

"It says Yukina," Botan said as Shizuru showed her the note.

"What?" Hiei growled, rounding on her.

"Yes, it looks as though it did say one name originally, but they later over-wrote it with another," Botan explained. "It now definitely says Yukina."

"That's ridiculous Botan," Kurama said. "The cat demons have no reason to want information from Yukina. They have no reason to even know of her name or even of her very existence."

"Well smarty pants, it definitely says Yukina!" Botan snapped.

Kurama gave her a hard look before taking the note from Shizuru. As he studied it, Hiei stretched onto his tiptoes and peered around Kurama's elbow to look for himself.

"It does say Yukina," they both concluded.

"There, you see!" Botan said smugly.

"I've had enough of this," Hiei said, shouldering his way past the others to confront Koenma directly. "We are not going to negotiate with these purring idiots. We could easily over-power them, I say we go there tomorrow morning and terminate every last one of them."

Koenma gave a small shake of his head, taking a moment to notice just how murderous the gleam in Hiei's eyes was before working up the courage to answer him.

"I'm sorry Hiei, but that's not an option," he said carefully. "In spirit world, as a rule, we don't negotiate with terrorists–"

"That's exactly what I told that cat demon when she attacked me!" Botan interrupted.

"–But in this instance, we have to make an exception," Koenma continued. "Surely you, as a resident of demon world, understand better than anyone here how risky it would be to fight or kill a cat demon."

"The concern would not be yours or spirit world's," Hiei replied. "If you are too cowardly and too fearful of repercussions, then I will go alone and kill them all myself."

"No."

Koenma was surprised to hear his own answer being spoken by another voice. He stepped slightly to one side to allow Yukina to join him on the front porch.

"I don't want anything bad to happen to Kazuma," she said, focusing her attention on Hiei. "If you attack the cat demons while they are holding him, they could kill him before you get to him."

"You don't understand what you're saying," Hiei answered her. "Kuwabara is much stronger than all of those cat demons combined – and for me to say that, you must know that it's true, given how much I despise him – they could not kill him even if they wanted to. They are calling our bluff. I don't know how they managed to catch him, but I doubt they will manage to hold him until dawn; and even if they do, we are not about to offer them any more hostages."

"Hey, I know my own brother and I know he won't fight his way to freedom," Shizuru interjected. "Not if he's being held by a group of girls. It goes against his moral code to fight girls, so unless one of them seriously threatens his life or seriously threatens one of us, he won't fight back."

"He'll fight back if he knows they're suggesting we trade Yukina for his freedom," Yusuke pointed out.

"Should we try to set them up?" Keiko suggested. "Should we pretend Yukina is going to surrender herself to them and once they release Kuwabara we could attack?"

"We can't attack, they will fight and we can't fight back," Kurama reminded her.

"Can't you use one of your plants that catches bodies without harming them?" Yusuke asked Kurama.

"Catching a body and holding it in place by force requires some sort of incapacitation, usually achieved by inflicting some form of injury on the victim," Kurama replied.

"No!"

Koenma was again surprised to see that Yukina had been the one to voice his thoughts.

"I will meet with the cat demons tomorrow morning," she said once the others had fallen silent. "If they wish to take me in Kazuma's place, then so be it."

"No, that won't work," Yusuke said. "Kuwabara will lose it if he sees you handing yourself over for his freedom."

"You don't know what you're saying!" Hiei added. "They will abuse you for your tears!"

"I don't know about that," Kurama said. "According to the note they left, they seem to think Yukina might know something about their cause. I don't think they wish to extract anything from her other than the answers to some questions."

"That's ridiculous, Yukina doesn't know anything about them or their cause or their stupid code names," Hiei spat.

"Exactly," Yukina agreed. "I don't know anything. I can't tell them anything. If I can explain that to them, they will leave us alone."

"That might be a good idea," Kurama said.

"Absolutely no way!" Hiei roared.

"Why do you care so much if Yukina goes to meet the cat demons?" Keiko asked him. "You don't care about anybody but yourself!"

Hiei glared at her until she gulped audibly and moved to stand slightly behind Yusuke.

"I think we should let Yukina meet with the cat demons," Koenma said.

The others all gave him looks of varying degrees of interest, but he pressed on.

"I think she is correct: they seem to be under the misconception that she knows something useful to them. If she meets with them for even five minutes they will realise that's not the case and, if they are true to their word, they will have already released Kuwabara and they will then release Yukina and leave this world to return to their own. I need this problem resolved very quickly."

"Is time a factor for you?" Kurama asked.

Koenma took a moment to study the devious fox demon, silently wondering if the look in his green eyes was one of curiosity or one of prior knowledge of something he really ought not to have been privy to.

"The cat demon problem is a well-known one in spirit world," he carefully replied. "Higher powers than me in spirit world will not tolerate the problem spilling out into the living world. The SDF will be despatched later tomorrow if we don't put an end to this."

"Oh so it's your old man that's driving this," Yusuke said.

"Something like that," Koenma quietly replied.

"See?" Yusuke said, turning to Keiko. "And I bet there's still a whole truck-load more information he's not sharing with us."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Koenma asked.

"You know what it means," Yusuke grumbled, pushing past him to enter the house.

Koenma stepped aside to let everyone else in before closing the front door and following them all to the living room, where they had all gathered.

"Okay, here's the plan," Yusuke said as Koenma joined them. "Tomorrow morning Yukina goes to the harbour to meet the cats. The rest of us split up and follow her, but we stay out of sight. As soon as the cats release Kuwabara, we attack."

"No," Kurama said. "A better plan would be for us all to wait until they release Kuwabara and then to give them half an hour to talk with Yukina. They will quickly realise she has nothing to tell them and then they will hopefully leave peacefully. If not, or if they try to harm or kidnap Yukina, then we can act."

"Have you lost your mind?" Hiei snapped. "Right now they're holding someone perfect able of defending himself and you're suggesting we swap him for someone defenceless? You're playing right into their sick little plan!"

"Is there any reason that they would want anything from any of us?" Koenma asked, hoping to bring the conversation back to order.

"According to the note one of us knows something they'd like to know more about," Yusuke said.

"The note was addressed to Yukina," Botan pointed out.

"You're really not helping!" Hiei snapped at her.

"Gosh, it seems like everybody is in a snippy mood today…" she grumbled.

"Nobody cares what you think about anything," Hiei muttered.

"First Koenma snapped at me, then Kurama, now Hiei…"

"Botan unless you have something useful to contribute to this discussion then be quiet!" Koenma warned her.

"Maybe I did have something useful to contribute, but now nobody will ever get to hear it because everyone is being so mean to me," she muttered.

"Really?" Hiei roared, rounding on her. "Do you really have anything to contribute to this? Maybe it's up one of your over-sized sleeves or in one of your suitcases of useless trinkets? You are not contributing anything and now you are actually detracting from the discussion!"

"Botan, perhaps you should leave," Kurama suggested, putting a hand on Hiei's shoulder.

"Perhaps she should!" Hiei agreed, shrugging off Kurama's hand. "She should go back to spirit world before the cat demons take her too!"

"I bet you wouldn't even come to rescue me if they did take me!" Botan said snootily.

"Botan, I think you should go," Koenma told her.

"I don't want to go," she replied, folding her arms and turning her nose up in the air defiantly.

"I'll escort her out."

Koenma was relieved to see that he was not the only one surprised by Hiei's offer as even Yusuke twisted his face in confusion.

"In case she gets herself into trouble," Hiei added. "Frail, useless burden that she is."

He glared around the others before ushering Botan out. At first she looked as though she might resist, but one hard look from Hiei had her moving. Koenma waited until they had both left the house before continuing the conversation.

"So we're all in agreement that tomorrow we should let Yukina meet with the cat demons?"

The others nodded and, after a brief pause, they began to disperse; but Koenma could not help but overhear Yusuke's remark to Keiko as they left the room together.

"How much do you wanna bet Koenma is only letting Yukina meet with the cat demons so that spirit world can spy on the whole thing and try to learn something for one of their stupid files?"


	4. Bounty Hunter

**Chapter 4 – Bounty Hunter**

"At what point can you re-enter spirit world?"

"Oh, any really."

Hiei stopped walking abruptly and Botan stumbled to a halt a few paces ahead of him.

"You mean to tell me I've been walking with you for half an hour for no good reason?" he asked her.

"Not really," she replied. "You only came out here because you wanted a break away from the others, so I thought I was doing you a favour by walking with you."

"You're an idiot," he groaned.

"Maybe by demon world standards."

"You're an idiot by any standard. Get out of here."

"Are you sure you don't want me to walk you–"

"Get out of my sight!"

"Everyone is so snippy today…"

Hiei growled and clenched his fists and the ferry girl finally appeared to take the hint as she mounted her oar and left him. Her flight pattern was staggered and juddering, as though she was attempting to fly whilst intoxicated, but Hiei did not care whether she made it back to spirit world or crashed to her doom; he had only used her exit as an excuse to make his own little journey back home.

It was not so much that he needed the money, it was more an instinctive desire – an uncontrollable curiosity – that motivated him as he returned to demon world and made his way towards a tavern frequented by bandits. It was a place he had never expected to revisit, least of all since he had taken his place alongside Mukuro upon his return to demon world. And, despite the fact that he had not been to the tavern in far longer than he cared to remember, little about the tavern – or its clientele – had changed. The exterior was still a ridged grey mound in the heart of a shanty town, the interior still looked as though it was a poorly dug cave (which it basically was) and the same crabby centipede demon was standing behind the bar leering at his customers over the top of a pair of very out-dated eyeglasses.

As he made his way through the messy arrangement of tables and chairs Hiei tried to ignore the increasing silence around him and the heads turning in his direction, rather continuing about his task and moving to the very back of the cave, to the wall the bar was attached to, where he found what he sought: demon world's wanted posters. He grunted in mild amusement when he saw a crude sketch of Kuwabara and the offer of a reward of three fresh slug sausages or a basket of soft fruit in return for his head. He passed a few other familiar faces before finding the large collection of cat-based posters. Ignoring the whiny protest from the bartender at his side, Hiei tore down all the posters he recognised, including a poster of the only cat demon he had actually see face-to-face: her name was apparently Tora and she had the highest bounty attached to her name as she seemed to be the de facto leader of the rebels.

"Thought you'd given up bounty hunting, Hiei," the bartender squawked at his side.

"And I thought you'd given up existing," Hiei flatly replied, his eyes still on the cache of posters he had taken.

He looked up at the wall and saw there were still several more cat posters there, which could mean that there were several more cat demons hiding in the living world or waiting in demon world or perhaps the posters were out of date; when he really thought about the situation, it amazed him that any rebel cat demons remained active or even alive.

"Hn, your posters are out of date," he concluded as his eyes landed on one cat demon's face that he was all too familiar with.

"I doubt that," the bartender snippily replied.

"Idiot, this bleeding heart perished years ago," Hiei said through a sigh as he tore down the poster in question.

He paused to look at it: it showed a tall female cat demon with flowing pink hair and brilliant blue eyes holding a pink and cream peony in one hand and smiling in an insolent, inappropriate sort of way.

"Open your eyes – you've got three of them – and read the fine print," the bartender hissed.

Hiei growled but obliged, his frustration slowly giving way to concern.

"Is this accurate?" he asked, moving his eyes to the bartender.

"Of course it is," the bartender replied, as though offended by the query.

Hiei cursed and stuffed the posters – including the one of the rebel leader – into the folds of his cloak before fleeing the tavern. He traversed demon world and returned to the living world far faster than he had left it, only slowing when he neared the Kuwabara family house. He stopped on the rooftop of the house, silently walking to the part of the roof over the bedroom Yukina slept in, where he sat down, cross-legged. Yukina was already there and so he closed his eyes and removed his bandana, allowing his jagan eye to explore his sister's thoughts as she drifted off to sleep.

Within a minute Hiei had seen all that he needed to. He stuffed his bandana into the folds of his cloak, inadvertently dislodging one of the wanted posters he had taken from the tavern. He did not pause to catch the poster, instead darting off, his jagan eye still exposed, looking for any signs of the cat demons or Kuwabara. He saw glimpses and hints as he ran until suddenly he felt the slightly unsettling sensation of another psychic demon reaching out to him, another jagan eye watching him back.

Hiei ran to Sarayashiki Harbour and dove into the water. Swimming was not one of his stronger skills, but he made short work of swimming out to the island he sought, dragging his self out of the water onto an outcropping of rocks where he paused just long enough to shake the excess water from his hair and clothing before running to the shore. He crossed a beach, sand dunes and a grassy field, only realising what he was doing when he was already too far in.

He skidded to a halt as he noticed just how many pink and cream flowers there were sprouting amidst the long grass of the field. He cursed under his breath and tried to run on, but it was already too late. After just four more steps he started to feel drowsy and after ten more, Hiei fell, facedown and unconscious, to the ground.

* * *

Koenma looked around the breakfast table irritably. Mister Kuwabara had joined them all for breakfast and apparently even he did not feel the need to respond when there was a knock on the front door.

"I believe there's someone at the door," Koenma said politely.

Mister Kuwabara nodded and then carried on eating his breakfast. The others around the table – Shizuru, Yukina and Yusuke – likewise showed no interest in responding to the sound and so, with a sigh of annoyance, Koenma rose from the table and left the room, striding along the hallway towards the front door. He opened it with the expectation of being greeted with the morning's newspaper or mail, but instead he was once more greeted only by a folded up note left on the porch.

"Oh dear…" he muttered as he crouched down to retrieve it.

He opened it out, quickly read it as he stood up again and then carefully folded in over again and made to hide it in his tunic.

"We gotta stop meeting like this."

Koenma's face dropped as his eyes landed on Yusuke's fingers, curled tightly around his wrist.

"Agreed," Koenma said bitterly as Yusuke snatched the note from him.

"Let's see here… "Dear Yusuke"," he began.

"It doesn't say Yusuke," Koenma argued.

"Whatever. "Dear Yusuke, we have Hiei…" What the…?"

Yusuke lifted his eyes to Koenma who could do little more than offer him a tight-lipped, humourless smile in reply to his unfinished question.

""We have Hiei"," Yusuke continued. ""We do not appreciate that you broke our agreement and sent your brother here to ambush us. We are no longer prepared to negotiate with you. Surrender yourself to us immediately and relinquish all information you have relating to Raspberry Sundae or we will kill one of our hostages. You have until sundown to respond." Damn…"

"Hiei's impetuous nature has never really been an asset to the team," Koenma commented dryly.

"They got Hiei?" Yusuke muttered. "How the hell did they get Hiei?"

"Didn't you read the note?" Koenma asked sarcastically. "They didn't "get" him, he gave himself to them!"

"But… Yeah, okay, I understand he approached them, but how were they able to overpower him and take him prisoner?"

"The same way they do everything else: using their old master's tricks and techniques. Yusuke this is getting very dangerous."

"If they can take Hiei, they could take any one of us!"

"That shouldn't be your biggest concern. We need to understand this situation before we can act."

Yusuke smiled darkly.

"Does that mean you're ready to tell us the whole story, Koenma?" he asked.

"I'm not the one who needs to give answers," Koenma plainly replied. "The person these letters are addressed to needs to speak up."

"And who would that be?" Yusuke asked. "Yukoenma or Yokorina?"

Koenma gave Yusuke a withering look, which he seemed unfazed by.

"Gather the others," he said. "We'll talk once Mister Kuwabara leaves for work."

"Y'know, I don't actually have to take orders from you any more," Yusuke began.

"The cat demons will kill Kuwabara and Hiei if we don't act quickly," Koenma reminded him.

"Right."

Yusuke handed the note back to Koenma and then ran off, the backdraft generated from the force of his propulsion ruffling Koenma's clothing. The prince straightened himself out with a small grunt of annoyance before closing the front door and starting back into the house, where he was glad to see Mister Kuwabara was putting on his coat and readying himself to leave. He passed him and continued back into the dining room, where he found Yukina gathering up the breakfast plates, her jaw tense and her eyes down, and Shizuru looking very pale, her eyes unfocused.

"It was them again, wasn't it?" she asked quietly as Koenma sat back down at the table.

Koenma placed the note on the table and slid it towards her. She stared at it until Yukina had left the room before lifting her eyes to Koenma.

"I don't even want to touch it," she said. "It's bad news, isn't it?"

"They have Hiei," Koenma replied.

He had kept his voice quiet, though apparently not quiet enough for demon ears, as the sound of crockery smashing against the kitchen floor answered him.

"The cat demons?" Shizuru asked. "The cat demons have Hiei?"

Koenma nodded.

"Well… I guess if they're good enough to take Hiei prisoner it's not so pathetic that they managed to take my brother…"

Koenma raised his eyebrows in surprise at Shizuru's response and she forced a smile.

"I was trying to keep morale up," she said, despite looking as though she was moments away from collapsing from emotional exhaustion.

"The problem is that we can't fight them," Koenma told her carefully.

"We can't fight them or we shouldn't fight them?" Shizuru asked.

"Shouldn't," he admitted. "Though the decree not to fight them comes from the highest authority in spirit world therefore, as far you are concerned, you might as well treat the situation as though you can't."

"Where are they holding my brother and Hiei?"

"I don't know."

"Did they take them back to demon world? Won't Hiei's border patrol catch them if they keep coming back and forth?"

"I don't know."

"You're not helping."

"It's a very complex situation."

Koenma and Shizuru both flinched when there was another knock on the front door. They stared at each other warily and, to Koenma's surprise, Yukina ran from the kitchen and towards the door, yanking it open.

"Oh Botan, it's only you," Yukina said dejectedly.

"My goodness, not you too Yukina?" Botan replied as she entered the house uninvited. "Everybody is in such poor spirits lately, I just don't know what to do with you all!"

She shortly arrived in the dining room, looking far too cheerful.

"Look Sir, I got a brand new kimono to replace the one that got ruined yesterday!" she said to Koenma.

"It looks exactly the same as the one you usually wear," Shizuru pointed out.

"Exactly, Shizuru!" Botan said with a grin. "The classics never go out of style!"

"Are you here for a reason, Botan?" Koenma asked her, giving her a hard glare in the hope that she would realise that his question was sarcastic.

"I was visiting Keiko at her house this morning to ask if she had any news on Kuwabara and while I was there Yusuke arrived and told me we were all meeting here to discuss a plan of action," Botan replied.

"This is a very complex situation, Botan," Koenma reminded her. "It's very dangerous. I don't want you getting involved."

Botan's cheerful expression vanished instantly.

"You mean you don't want me to get in the way!" she protested.

"Botan, did Yusuke tell you why we're meeting here?" Shizuru asked her.

"No," Botan said, shaking her head.

"The cat demons have taken Hiei," Koenma said.

Botan gasped in horror.

"Oh my goodness!" she exclaimed. "They've got Hiei now too? That's terrible! How could they take someone as powerful and clever as Hiei?"

"That's exactly what I'd like to know," Shizuru said, eying Koenma suspiciously.

"And since nobody – not even you Shizuru – can sense their presence, how can we find where they are holding Kuwabara and Hiei?" Botan asked.

"We can't," Koenma answered her. "Which is the problem we were trying to address before you showed up…"

"If only we had Hiei here with his jagan eye to help us find Hiei…" Botan said, touching a finger to one corner of her mouth and looking pensive.

"Did you really just say that?" Yusuke asked as he rejoined them in the kitchen.

"Surely if a jagan eye could find where the cat demons are hiding, Hiei would have already looked for them and told us where they were, right?" Keiko asked.

"Hiei already did exactly that," Kurama said. "That's how he was able to find them and that's how they were able to capture him."

"He could have at least told us where he was going before he left to find them!" Botan moaned.

"Weren't you the last person to see Hiei before he left?" Kurama asked her.

She turned very pale and then very red.

"Oopsie?" she said.

"It's not Botan's fault," Yusuke said. "She didn't know Hiei was gonna go all Rambo on us."

"I'm not blaming Botan for anything," Kurama replied. "Botan has nothing to answer for."

"Oh, thank you Kurama," Botan said as she attempted to fan away her embarrassment with one hand.

"Yukina however has some explaining to do."

Kurama held up a slightly soggy and sun-bleached piece of paper, which, when he recognised the picture depicted on it, Koenma quickly snatched from him.

"Where did you find this?" he demanded.

"In the front garden," Kurama replied, pointing a thumb over his shoulder.

Koenma looked down at the piece of paper – which appeared to be a wanted poster from demon world – feeling far less than surprised to see Yukina's name mentioned next to a picture of the leader of the cat demon rebels.

"Where is Yukina?" Keiko asked.

"In the kitchen, I'll get her," Shizuru offered, rising from the table.

"I still don't get why Yukina is associated with these freaks," Yusuke said.

"That's something only Yukina can explain," Koenma said, passing the wanted poster back to Kurama.

"The poster also says that "Raspberry Sundae" cat demon is still alive," Keiko pointed out. "I thought she was dead?"

"The poster is out of date," Kurama explained. "Hence why it is so tattered."

"Why was it in the front garden?" Keiko asked. "Did the cat demons leave it there for us?"

"No, it looked as though it had been accidentally discarded," Kurama replied.

"Hey, Yukina isn't in the kitchen," Shizuru said as she returned.

Koenma found himself meeting eyes with Kurama, something about the look on the fox demon's face telling him that they had both come to the same conclusion. Koenma quickly stood and Kurama moved with him as he jogged towards the back door of the house. Koenma was the first outside and he was eventually joined in the back garden by all of the others.

"Damn it, now those pussies are kidnapping people right from under our noses!" Yusuke yelled in frustration.

"Is that possible?" Shizuru asked, turning to Kurama. "Could they actually have taken Yukina while we were all in the next room?"

Kurama ignored her question, instead crouching down and tentatively touching a hand to the dew-moistened grass.

"This is getting ridiculous!" Yusuke complained.

"…I'm scared…" Keiko said quietly. "I don't think… I don't think I can be spirit detective if it means dealing with a scary gang of cat demons who can steal any of us away without warning…"

"Ordinarily I'd agree with you," Shizuru said to her. "But those demons have got my brother. I think we should go and see Kuroko Sato. She might be able to teach us a useful skill to use against the cat demons or she might even know something about them."

"That's a good idea," Keiko said, nodding shakily.

"Yusuke, take Keiko and Shizuru to see Kuroko," Kurama said, standing up. "Koenma, I think you and Botan should return to spirit world."

"What will you do?" Koenma asked him.

"I have to check something," Kurama replied.

"Hey fox boy, this isn't the time for being mystical," Yusuke said impatiently. "Tell us what you're really up to."

Kurama sighed and held out one hand, which was closed in a fist.

"I don't think the cat demons took Yukina," he said. "I think she left of her own volition."

He opened out his fist to reveal a gleaming hiruiseki streaked with jade and crimson.

"She's crying…" Keiko said softly.

"What does that prove?" Yusuke asked.

"Guilt."

Kurama closed his fist tightly around the tear gem upon his reply and the others all looked at him warily.

"Meet me back here at noon," he said, before stuffing his hand into his pocket and walking towards the garden gate.

The others watched him go before turning to look around each other.

"You better not be hiding anything from us," Yusuke warned Koenma as their eyes met.

"I think you'll get all the answers you need when Yukina starts talking," Koenma replied.

* * *

"So…" Botan said, looking about the others. "When Kurama said he would meet us back here at noon, did he actually mean mid-night? Is that a demon terminology misunderstanding?"

"No Botan," Shizuru quietly answered her. "It means we've lost Kurama too."

"I'm going out to find him," Yusuke said, standing abruptly.

"Are you crazy?" Keiko yelped, standing at his side. "If you go out there on your own, you'll just be the next one they take! Can't you see that's what they're doing? They're splitting us up so that they can pick us off, one by one!"

"I'd like to see them try," Yusuke growled.

"Sit down," Koenma said. "Both of you."

To his surprise, they both did. He glanced at the clock on the mantelpiece at the exact moment that it changed to show that it was just one minute to midnight.

"If there's anything you wanna tell us Koenma, now would be a really good time to do it," Yusuke said darkly.

Koenma turned his attention from the clock to the wanted poster he was still cradling in his hands. Under the heading "Known Accomplices" there were several names, including Yukina's. Koenma was surprised to see her name there; but only because he was surprised that whoever had made the poster had known her name to add it. The fact that Yukina was an accomplice of the cat demons was neither surprising nor new information to Koenma; in fact, Yukina's association with the cat demons had been what had first brought her to his attention.

"The only one who can explain Yukina's association with the cat demons is Yukina," he concluded, lifting his head to meet Yusuke's eyes.

"Okay, that's fine," Yusuke replied. "But you need to go to spirit world and lift the ban on attacking the cat demons."

"I'm sorry I can't do that, Yusuke," Koenma calmly replied.

"If we can't attack these cats, there isn't much we can do," Yusuke pointed out. "They've taken Kuwabara, who can cut through barriers to get them between worlds, they've taken Hiei who could have helped us track them down with his jagan eye and now they've got Kurama who knows all about demon plants, including the demon plants the cat demons use to fight. They've taken all of our best weapons to control them with so now the only option we have left is brute force."

Yusuke punched a fist into an open palm to demonstrate his point but Koenma remained unfazed.

"If you maim or kill even one cat demon, the consequences will be dire," he flatly replied.

"So you keep saying," Shizuru said. "But what else can we do?"

Koenma did not answer her: he was unsure how to without provoking Yusuke yet again and he was shortly saved from having to think up a diplomatic reply when the sound of someone at the front door caught everyone's attention. Yusuke was the first to the door, shouting out a very descriptive expletive before stepping to one side to afford the others a view of what had met him on the doorstep.

"It's worse than I thought," Kurama said breathlessly.

Koenma could not help but agree as he watched Kurama stagger along the hallway, Yukina's limp and blood-stained body barely supported in his arms.

"What happened?" Keiko asked.

"Something terrible and illogical," Kurama replied as he followed Shizuru into the downstairs guest bedroom.

He carefully laid Yukina on the bed and then stepped back.

"Who did this to her?" Shizuru asked as she knelt by Yukina's side.

"That's an interesting question," Kurama replied.

"It was those awful cat demons!" Botan cried, running around to the other side of the bed and kneeling down, her hands hovering over Yukina, her eyes darting about wildly.

"It appears Shigure has a successor," Kurama said, pointing at Yukina's head.

Botan looked up at him curiously before moving her hands to a cloth wrapped around Yukina's head that had been so soaked through with blood, it smudged off onto her hands the moment she touched it. She carefully removed the dressing, revealing a deep gash running across the centre of Yukina's forehead.

"Gross!" Yusuke said, leaning over her. "What the hell did that?"

He made to poke a finger at the wound, ignoring the others when they all warned him to stop: an instant before his finger made contact with the wound it suddenly opened wide to reveal an angry third eye that fixed onto Yusuke at the same moment one of Yukina's hands suddenly sprang to life and clamped onto his wrist. He yelped and Kurama quickly leapt forwards, grabbing Yusuke's arm in one hand and Yukina's arm in the other, forcing them apart. As the contact was broken Yukina's third eye snapped shut and her arm fell limply from Kurama's hand; but Yusuke had been left with a vicious frost burn on his wrist in the shape of Yukina's hand and fingers.

"What the hell was that?" he cried as he saw the damage for himself.

"Someone, or something, made Yukina think that it was a good idea to get a jagan eye implanted," Kurama replied. "I found her in the recovery wing of the new surgeon's offices. He told me she approached him earlier today, offered him some of her tears as payment and asked for the operation. He said his technique won't drain her demon energy the same way Hiei's operation did, but that she will take a long time to adjust and fully recover. Also, after some gentle persuasion, he told me he was responsible for implanting a jagan eye into Tora the cat demon we keep encountering."

"She just tried to take my hand off!" Yusuke snapped.

"It's your own fault for trying to poke her in the eye!" Botan snapped back at him.

"Why would she do this to herself?" Keiko asked tearfully.

"Isn't it obvious?" Kurama asked.

"No!" Yusuke yelled, waving his wounded wrist in front of Kurama's face.

"I'll make you a poultice for it," Kurama offered.

He left the room and Yusuke glanced about the others.

"I'll help Yukina," Botan said, moving her hands over Yukina's head.

"Stop!" Koenma warned.

"Why?" Botan asked innocently.

"Because this!" Yusuke answered, pointing at his wrist.

"I don't want you touching Yukina, Botan," Koenma said, ignoring Yusuke.

Botan's face changed, a strange look passing over her features, forming an expression Koenma had only ever seen her wear a handful of times during her time working with him.

"You think she should be left to feel the pain of her wounds as punishment for what she did," she said.

"I didn't say that."

Botan's assumption was wrong but, in Koenma's mind, what she was accusing him of was very much easier to explain than the truth.

"I don't agree with you," she said firmly.

Koenma moved closer to the bed, leaning over it towards Botan.

"We've lost Kuwabara and Hiei and now the only one who could help us recover them and rid the living world of the cat demons has incapacitated herself," he said carefully. "We can't afford to lose anyone else."

"That's true," Yusuke said. "Even having a ditz like Botan is better than having one less body."

"If Yukina is the only one who can help send the cat demons back to their realm and help us get Kuwabara and Hiei back then wouldn't it make more sense to heal her as quickly as possible?" Botan asked, as undeterred as ever.

"Botan, leave her be," Koenma sternly replied.

Kurama returned to the room and wrapped a leaf spread with a paste around Yusuke's wrist.

"I'm going to heal her," Botan said, positioning her hands closely over Yukina's forehead.

"That's a good idea," Kurama said.

Koenma shot the fox demon an admonishing look, but he appeared not to notice.

"The sooner she wakes up, the sooner she can explain herself to us and the rebel cat demons," Kurama added.

"Exactly my point," Botan said, nodding smugly at Koenma.

The spirit world prince winced as he watched a glow form on Botan's palms, illuminating Yukina's pale face.

"If she takes off your arms it's your own fault," Yusuke warned her.

"She won't hurt me because I won't try to poke her in the eye," Botan answered him. "And also because she knows I'm helping her, like I always do."

Koenma reluctantly retreated from the room and he was surprised to see Keiko following him.

"I don't think I can do this," she whispered to him as they moved away from the doorway. "I can't fight an army of demons!"

"Fighting won't help this situation," Koenma whispered back. "I have to go back to spirit world – to buy us some more time to get rid of the cat demons – can you make sure that nobody leaves this house before I get back?"

Keiko nodded.

"I can do that," she said, smiling ironically. "I can boss people around, I'm good at that!"

"You're good at many things," Koenma reassured her. "Stay guard and I will return as quickly as I can."

Keiko nodded and Koenma quickly left the house before anyone else could notice his departure and question him on it. Once outside he quickly made his way back to spirit world, reverting to his toddler form and scurrying through back corridors to a room he rarely visited. There he found a single large metal container filled with several small mailboxes, each requiring its own key to be opened. He retrieved the key from inside his shoe and opened the box he sought – which was thankfully on the bottom row and easy to reach in his smaller form – removing the paper file and locking the box once more.

Koenma then did something he rarely did in spirit world and transformed back into his adult form, his larger size allowing him to more easily hide the paper file under his tunic. With the file safely concealed he stuffed the key back into his shoe and quickly left the room, checking about himself as he crossed spirit world, bringing himself to one of the portals to demon world. To his relief, it was not guarded on the spirit world side and he was able to slip through, landing in demon world beside a troll who gave him an odd look before lumbering off. Aware that he was very conspicuous and easily identifiable, Koenma quickly and quietly made his way to where he needed to be – which thankfully was only a five minute walk from where he had landed – and was relieved to see the demon he sought sitting by a fire roasting something that looked completely inedible.

"Hello."

The demon looked around at Koenma at the sound of his voice.

"I need to ask a favour of you."

Koenma gulped nervously as Enki stood up, his enormous shadow falling over the prince.

"I need to ask you to hold onto this."

Koenma removed the spirit world file from his tunic and held it out towards Enki with a shaking hand.

"What is it?" Enki asked.

"It's a file," Koenma replied.

"A spirit world file?" Enki asked. "Why would you bring it here?"

"I need to make sure it doesn't fall into the wrong hands and I think it will be safe with you."

"If it shouldn't fall into the wrong hands, wasn't it really, really stupid of you to bring it here yourself?"

"…It wasn't really, really stupid, it was really, really brave."

Enki shrugged.

"Seems really, really stupid to me," he said.

"Can you keep this safe or not?" Koenma snapped irritably.

"That depends," Enki replied.

Koenma sighed.

"How much do I have to pay you to do this for me?" he asked with a roll of his eyes.

"I'm not looking for payment," Enki replied. "I just want to know if holding this file will make your spirit world soldiers come after me or any of my people."

"No, that won't happen," Koenma lied. "This file is about Raspberry Sundae. Do you know what that means?"

"The cat demon tribe?"

"Yes. The rebel leader became a spirit world informant and this file contains details of everything she reported to us. It also contains details of her death. Everything in this file is contentious and if any of the cat demons – loyalist or rebel – ever got sight of the contents, the war they are waging against each other could spill out across your world and mine. Do you understand?"

Enki nodded.

"So can you help me?"

"I think I can."

"You promise to guard this file with your life and you promise not to read the contents?"

"I can look after the file, make sure no cat demons see it."

Koenma could not help but notice that Enki had failed to promise to protect the file at all costs and he had also not promised not to read the file: but, he reasoned, it was far better that Enki read the file than anyone else did, and so he nodded.

"Thank you," he said as Enki accepted the file.

"You'll come back for it?" Enki asked, holding it up.

"Yes," Koenma confirmed. "Soon, I hope."

Enki nodded and Koenma turned to leave.

"Do you need an escort back to spirit world?" Enki asked him.

Koenma watched a spiny reptilian demon fly over the route back to the portal to spirit world.

"That would be nice," he said, grinning nervously at Enki.


	5. My Friend

**Chapter 5 – My Friend**

Botan snatched back her hands fearfully as Yukina started to stir. Between Botan's healing magic and Kurama's healing herbs, she seemed to finally be making a recovery. Botan backed away from the bed until her back touched the wall and at the other side of the bed she saw Keiko do the same. Yusuke, Kurama and Shizuru all moved closer, with Kurama sitting down onto the bed by Yukina's side.

"Yukina?" he said.

Botan leaned forwards slightly, peering down at Yukina expectantly.

"Yukina, can you hear me?" Kurama asked.

Yukina groaned and twitched slightly.

"Oh dear…" Botan said quietly.

"Botan?"

Yukina's voice was barely more than a faint croak but she turned her head slightly towards Botan, her eyes opened to thin slits, large, unfocused pupils looking in the ferry girl's direction.

"Oh sweetie, why did you do it?" Botan wailed, dropping to her knees to Yukina's bedside and grabbing Yukina's nearest hand into both of hers.

"Where's Kazuma?" Yukina asked.

"We don't know," Kurama answered her. "But we should be able to find him if we know how to. That's something we were hoping you could help us with. How is it that you are acquainted with the cat demons?"

"I'm not acquainted with the cat demons," Yukina faintly replied.

"Tell the truth, Yukina," Kurama warned her. "Kuwabara's life depends on your honesty."

"I-I'm not acquainted with the cat demons!" Yukina insisted, her eyes opening a little wider.

"Why did you get that operation?" Shizuru asked her.

"I heard Botan say a jagan eye could find where the cat demons were hiding and I thought I could help."

The others all turned to Botan, who shook her head.

"I never meant that one of us should get a jagan eye!" she hurriedly pointed out.

"No matter, the damage is done now," Kurama said. "And before a more drastic fate befalls any of us, we need to know why the cat demons know Yukina."

"I'm telling you the truth!" Yukina said. "I don't know anything about them!"

"You're lying," Kurama said. "I have plants that can make you tell me the truth, but the way they extract the information isn't pleasant–"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Yusuke interjected. "Take it easy there, fox boy! I want answers just as much as you do, but nobody's torturing the truth out of anybody!"

Botan tightened her hold of Yukina's hand, the gesture causing the ice demon to refocus her gaze onto the ferry girl.

"Yukina, sweetie, if you do know anything, it's perfectly safe to tell us," she said gently. "We're your friends and we want to help you."

"That's right, Yukina," Shizuru said. "And we want to get Kazuma back. If you've got a secret you don't want to tell the cat demons, that's fine, but you can tell us. At least if we know what the problem is we can help figure out a solution."

"Yeah," Keiko added. "We don't like that the cat demons wrote letters to you asking you to surrender yourself to them. We want to find a way to make them stop and leave you alone."

Yukina managed a small smile.

"It's about Raspberry Sundae," she said.

"We know that," Kurama said. "We know that you knew the leader of the rebel cat demons personally."

"Yes, I did know her," Yukina admitted. "But she was the only cat demon I knew. I did briefly meet a few of the other rebels, but the leader was the only one I really knew. When I first left the ice village to search for my brother, she helped me travel to the living world. She just walked with me, making sure no demons tried to attack me or kidnap me. She did it many times. She never asked for payment or expected anything from me. She was my friend."

"What else do you know?" Kurama pressed.

"Nothing, I swear!"

"You said you knew nothing before, but now you're admitting you did have an association with the leader of the rebel cat demons. What else are you hiding?"

"Hey, come on, take it easy," Shizuru said to Kurama.

Kurama stood stiffly and gave Yusuke a hard look before leaving the room.

"I see some people are still in an awful snippy mood," Botan said with a sigh.

"I've told you all everything I know," Yukina said to Botan.

"It's alright sweetie, you don't have to justify yourself to me, I believe you," Botan assured her. "You just get some rest, I'll help you get comfortable and before long you'll be back on your feet."

"And in the mean time, we'll go get Kuwabara and Hiei back," Yusuke added.

"How?" Keiko asked.

"I've got a plan," Yusuke said.

"Really?" Keiko asked incredulously.

"Keiko!" Yusuke growled at her under his breath. "I'm trying to make her feel better!"

"Oh!"

Yusuke groaned.

"Hey, where's Koenma?" he asked. "Damnit if he's been kidnapped, I'm not gonna go rescue him!"

"He went back to spirit world," Keiko said. "He said he had to do something but that he won't be long."

"We're not supposed to be splitting up…" Yusuke grumbled as he marched out the room.

Keiko glanced at Shizuru, who shrugged.

"Everybody is just very snippy…" Botan muttered, ignoring the looks her comment earned her from Keiko and Shizuru.

* * *

"Hiei! Hey… Hey Hiei!"

Kuwabara strained against the plant holding him in place and again it painfully tightened its hold; Hiei, however, seemed to be managing to slip out of the plant holding him.

"Hiei! How are you doing that?" Kuwabara hissed.

The cat demons had built a campfire some distance away, the faint glow of it barely visible from Kuwabara's vantage point and since lighting it, they had ceased their regular visits to check on their prisoners.

"Hn, pathetic," Hiei muttered as he hopped free of the plant.

Kuwabara watched with wide eyes of disbelief as Hiei drew out his sword and started to walk away.

"Hiei!" he cried.

Hiei growled and then looked back over his shoulder.

"Help me!" Kuwabara shouted at him.

"I can't," Hiei flatly replied.

"You mean you won't!" Kuwabara complained.

"No, I mean I can't," Hiei said, turning around to fully face him. "The plant tightens its hold the more you struggle. Until you relax, it will not release you."

"It releases me if I relax?" Kuwabara asked.

"Yes."

"Like a Chinese finger trap?"

"…Whatever."

Kuwabara nodded and then drew in a deep breath, holding it for a moment before slowly sighing it out, relaxing his muscles as he did so. To his surprise, the plant's hold did lessen slightly. He repeated his actions and the binds loosened further.

"Hey Hiei!" he called out. "It's working! The plant's letting me go!"

Hiei rolled his eyes.

"Shout a little louder, I'm not sure every one of the cat demons heard you the first time," he spat sarcastically.

"I don't know what you're being so high and mighty about, Hiei," Kuwabara replied, trying to keep himself calm and relaxed as he spoke so that the plant would continue to release him. "The cats got you too."

"They got you first!" Hiei snapped irritably.

"Were you coming to rescue me?"

Kuwabara finally had one arm free and he gladly dropped it to his side.

"Hn, don't be ridiculous!" Hiei snorted. "The cats are after Yukina, I came here to slaughter them before they reached her."

Kuwabara's second arm fell free.

"So those cat demons just want Yukina's tears?" he asked.

Hiei twitched but otherwise did not respond, which was enough of a response for Kuwabara to know that the cat demons were not just after Yukina for her hiruiseki-making abilities. He stepped one leg out of the plant, watching it gradually release his other leg until he was able to leap away from the plant entirely and then take a few long strides to bring himself directly in front of Hiei.

"Thanks for waiting for me, I didn't think you would."

Hiei twitched again and Kuwabara sensed that Hiei had not actually meant to wait for him.

"Oh wait…" Kuwabara said slowly. "You need me to escape, that's why you waited, isn't it?"

"Shut-up," Hiei grumbled. "I just… Yusuke would just complain if I returned without you."

Kuwabara nodded and then looked about himself. They appeared to be standing in the remains of a sunken garden that had been long ago abandoned and gone wild, with rampant plant-life covering most of the decorative stonework that lined the walls.

"Do you have any idea where we are?" he asked, turning to Hiei again.

"We're on an island," Hiei replied. "It looks as though humans abandoned it long ago and the rebel cat demons seem to have been using it as a hide-out for some time. I don't think the one with the jagan eye – I think her name is Tora – left demon world recently. I think she and her associates have been here since before the formation of the border patrol in demon world."

"Is that really what happened or are you just saying that so you don't have to feel bad about the fact a whole clan of demons got past your guard?" Kuwabara asked.

"When I want your inane opinion, I will ask for it," Hiei snarled back. "But for the record I am speaking the truth. I came here from the mainland and I saw ample evidence that they have been living here for several seasons. They have managed to evade detection thanks to their low power levels and the fact that Tora has a jagan eye to help obscure their location from detection. I didn't understand what had brought them to the living world – other than the fact that they need to hide from those in demon world who would not hesitate to murder them – but I think they may have been drawn here by Yukina."

"Yukina drew them here?"

Hiei moved away from Kuwabara and swiftly scaled one of the walls, seeming to reach the ground above in two light-footed hops. Kuwabara clambered up after him, glancing over at the distant glow of the cat demon's campfire before continuing.

"What do they want with Yukina?" he asked.

"Tora's jagan eye drew her to Yukina," Hiei replied. "We have to get to Yukina and take her somewhere safe. Koenma won't let anyone fight the cat demons."

"You're not allowed to fight the cat demons?"

"No."

"So if you didn't come here to fight the cat demons, did you just come here to rescue me?"

Hiei gave Kuwabara a long, hard glare before turning around and sneaking off. Kuwabara quickly followed after him, unsure if he felt better or worse about the fact that it did seem as though Hiei had defied instructions and set out to save him.

"So are you gonna tell me why the cat demons are after my beloved Yukina?" he asked as they crept away through overgrown vegetation towards the sound of the ocean. "I have a right to know y'know, she is my girlfriend."

"That's debateable," Hiei grunted. "But as you will shortly find out anyway, I suppose I could tell you."

"Okay…"

Kuwabara watched the back of Hiei's head as he waited for an answer that seemed to take an eternity to come.

"It seems the former rebel leader would sometimes escort Yukina to and from the ice village when she was travelling to the living world to look for her missing brother," Hiei eventually explained. "And Yukina became attached to her. Yukina was very saddened by her death and, due to the nature of her death and the fact that none of her remains or any of her weapons were ever recovered, Yukina still holds onto the hope that she is not really dead. For a novice user of the jagan eye, Yukina's wish can be misread as fact: Tora thought her old ally was still alive and that Yukina might know where she was and so she hunted Yukina down. I would guess that she appeared when she did because Kurama had placed a raspberry sundae on the table and the plant no doubt reminded Yukina of the stupid cat demon who once used that exact flower as her primary weapon."

"So the leader of the cat demons was one of the good guys?" Kuwabara asked. "I mean, she had to be if she helped Yukina out, right?"

"The leader of the rebel cat demons was an idiot."

"You say that about everybody. Did you even know her?"

"Not personally. If I had ever met her, I would have knocked her unconscious and handed her back to the leader of the cat demon tribe, who would have paid me an enormous sum for her."

"…So she was a wanted criminal?"

"No, she was just an idiot."

"You just said you never met her."

"I didn't need to. She was famous in demon world for her idiocy. Her main weapon was the raspberry sundae, which is a defensive weapon, not an offensive one. All it does is temporarily stuns the victim to allow the user to run away. She was a frivolous idiot who cared more about "having fun" than having power or influence."

"Not everybody wants to rule the world, Hiei. And if you never met her, you can't really know she was an idiot."

"I didn't need to meet her to know what sort of idiot she was. One of my fellow former bandits once knew her very well and he told me as much about her as anyone should ever need to know. She was an idiot and now because she associated herself with Yukina, Yukina is in danger. What else do you need to know?"

"…Nothing, I guess."

"Then shut-up and get ready to swim."

"Huh?"

Kuwabara pushed through some thickets and stepped out onto the foreshore of a sweeping beach. Looking out across the ocean he could just make out the twinkling lights of Sarayashiki city in the far distance. When he saw Hiei start towards the water he let out a groan, realising then that the angry little fire demon had not been kidding about having to swim.

* * *

"Where the hell have you been?"

Koenma quietly sat down on a sofa beside Kurama, seemingly unfazed by Yusuke's outburst.

"I went to spirit world and begged my father to stand down the SDF," he smoothly lied. "He refused, but he did offer to hold them back for another 48 hours to allow us time to apprehend the cat demons and send them back to demon world ourselves."

Yusuke shrugged.

"At this point I don't really care," he said casually. "If your foot soldiers wanna pick up some pussy, let them do it."

"Yusuke, please…" Kurama groaned.

"If the SDF find that Hiei and Kuwabara have been taken prisoner by the cat demons, we will all be questioned on the matter," Koenma pointed out.

"I'm getting pretty sick of this," Yusuke growled. "Spirit world won't let us fight the cat demons, but they're willing to let the SDF fight them? What gives?"

"The SDF will not fight the cat demons, they will capture them and return them to demon world," Koenma replied. "Which is what all of you should have done at the very start of this mess."

Yusuke narrowed his eyes critically.

"If I knew where the cats were, I'd go find them and finish this," he pointed out.

"Botan said she was able to track one of them with the demon compass," Keiko offered. "Maybe we could try that?"

"Why didn't anybody tell me this sooner?" Yusuke asked, glowering at the others in the room. "Where is Botan?"

"She's still helping Yukina," Keiko replied, nodding her head towards the door.

"When Yukina regains her strength, won't she be able to tell us where they are?" Shizuru asked. "If Hiei was able to find them with his jagan eye, shouldn't Yukina be able to find them too?"

"I doubt it," Kurama said solemnly. "Hiei is a master of the jagan eye, Yukina has just impulsively had one implanted into her body with no prior knowledge of how to control it. It would take her many years of practise to have even half the control over her powers that Hiei has over his."

"Then why the hell did she get the operation?" Yusuke asked.

"Because she was desperate," Kurama replied. "Desperate to rescue her beloved Kuwabara and desperate to protect the cat demons from persecution. She got the eye implanted because she thought she could use it to seek out the rebels, convince them to free Kuwabara and Hiei and also convince them to flee before we got close to them."

"Are you saying Yukina isn't loyal to us?" Keiko asked him.

"That's a bit harsh," Shizuru added.

"Yukina's a simple little girl, she doesn't have some secret agenda," Yusuke agreed. "Spirit world are the ones keeping secrets and hiding things here, not little Yuki–"

Yusuke stopped short as Botan let out a horrified scream. After his initial shock he darted towards the spare bedroom Botan was tending to Yukina in, the others hurrying after him to find Yukina sitting up in bed with her hands gripped into Botan's arms. Yukina's eyes looked as though she had slipped into unconsciousness with them open, but her newly acquired third eye was alert and focused and it seemed to be drawing energy from Botan to function.

"This is exactly why I didn't want Botan touching her!" Koenma yelled, leaping at the bed.

Kurama grabbed the back of his tunic and yanked him back, almost throwing him into the back wall of the room.

"This might be useful," he explained when he caught the glare the spirit world prince was giving him. "We should allow it to proceed."

The others looked as confused and concerned as Koenma, but Kurama ignored them, sitting down carefully onto the bed at the opposite side Yukina was holding Botan at.

"Yukina?" he said, his voice calm and clear. "What can you see?"

"Demon plant," Yukina replied, her voice hollow and faint.

"Where is the demon plant?" Kurama asked.

"It's holding Kazuma and Mister Hiei."

"What else can you see?"

"Tora is watching. The plant is holding Kazuma and Mister Hiei, it's controlling them. Tora is watching everything with her jagan eye. They're… They think they're escaping, but it's all an illusion… The plant and Tora, they're tricking them… Oh no… No… No!"

Yukina tightened her hold of Botan, who collapsed limply in her grasp.

"End this!" Koenma demanded.

"Not yet!" Kurama said sternly. "Yukina, what is happening now?"

"Kazuma and Mister Hiei are talking too much," Yukina continued. "They're telling Tora everything… Everything… Mister Hiei thinks he's just talking to Kazuma, but Tora can hear everything he's saying, and he's saying too much! He's saying too much about Yasashi!"

"Knock her out," Koenma instructed Yusuke.

"What?" Yusuke echoed.

"Knock Yukina unconscious before she drains what little spirit energy Botan has left!" Koenma barked.

Yusuke cursed and begrudgingly slapped the back of his hand across Yukina's head, causing her to slump over beside Botan, both lying oddly peacefully after what had just occurred.

"Nobody tell Kuwabara about what I just did," Yusuke grumbled, looking around the others.

"That wasn't helpful," Kurama said, standing abruptly in front of Koenma.

"Yukina can't control that power, she could have unintentionally killed someone in this room," Koenma stiffly replied. "It was the right thing to do. We don't even know if what she saw can be reliably taken as an actual account of what is happening to Kuwabara and Hiei."

"We only needed a little longer," Kurama said. "She might have been able to tell us where the rebels are holding Kuwabara and Hiei."

"It wasn't worth the risk," Koenma plainly replied. "Look at what she's done to Botan!"

Kurama looked back over his shoulder at Botan, who had slumped to the floor.

"You should probably take her back to spirit world," Yusuke suggested.

"She can recover just as quickly here," Koenma replied.

Kurama turned back to face Koenma, staring at him through slightly thinned eyes. Koenma kept his face impassive, waiting as patiently as he could for the fox demon to give up; which he eventually did, turning his attention to Yukina.

"We should leave her be for now," he said. "Hopefully after some rest she will better be able to assist us in our search for Kuwabara and Hiei."

Shizuru gently manoeuvred Yukina back into the bed and covered her over as Keiko crouched down by Botan.

"What about Botan?" she asked, looking up at Yusuke.

"I think Botan has done enough work tonight," he said, looking over at Koenma. "If nobody else is willing to help her, I'll take her back to spirit world myself."

He started to move around the bed but Koenma stepped into his path, causing him to stumble to a halt.

"I don't think it's such a good idea that you go to spirit world, Yusuke," the prince said through a nervous grin.

"Really?" Yusuke said. "Your old man and his merry men are still holding a grudge?"

"I'll take her back," Kurama said.

"Thank you," Koenma said to him.

Kurama ignored him, moving around to the other side of the bed where Botan lay. Keiko quickly moved out of his way and he gathered Botan up into his arms. He gave Koenma one last hard look before leaving. Yusuke leaned out of the room, watching him walk out the front door before stepping back into the room and looking around the others.

"That was weird," he commented.

When nobody answered him, he continued.

"Does anybody get the feeling Kurama is taking it personally that Yukina knows something about the cat demons? No? Just me?"

When nobody answered him again, Yusuke grumbled a few choice expletives and stomped out of the room.

* * *

Botan awoke slowly, her mind lingering somewhere between her dreams and reality, her heavy eyelids struggling to open. Blurry images of her bedroom appeared before her, but she was sure she was still dreaming, as her curtains were barely holding back daylight and there was someone else in her room.

Botan was suddenly very awake.

"Oh hello."

Botan scrambled up into a sitting position as the intruder spoke, her back thumping against her headboard and her feet inadvertently pushing all the sheets off of her bed in her haste to be upright. She glanced down at herself and was relieved to see that she was fully dressed in her usual pink kimono. She looked up again in time to see Kurama replacing the lid on a decorative little trinket box she kept a necklace in.

"How are you feeling?" he asked her.

She looked about her room suspiciously, her eyes passing and then flicking back to her maneki-neko ornament, her suspicious frown deepening when she noticed that it was facing towards the door instead of towards her bed. She shuffled to the edge of her bed and leaned over, turning it back to face herself. As she retracted her hand she felt Kurama approach her and she turned her head towards him at the exact moment he sat down beside her on the edge of the bed.

"I didn't expect you to wake so soon," he said.

He was smiling, but Botan did not feel any more reassured.

"You're in my bedroom," she said.

"It was very kind of you to help Yukina the way you did," he said.

"I've never had a boy in my bedroom before," she told him. "Why are you in my bedroom? And how did I get here? Did anyone see you come in here? I'm not sure we ferry girls are allowed boys in our bedrooms…"

"Koenma asked me to take you back here to rest. You wore yourself out trying to help Yukina recover from her operation."

"Oh, Yukina! How is she?"

"She's resting. She'll be fine. Thanks to you."

Botan nodded slowly. She started to look around her room again but found herself quickly looking back at Kurama again. She frowned and ran her eyes over him.

"You're sitting very close to me," she commented.

"We're friends aren't we?" he responded.

Botan chewed at her lip, something about the tone of voice Kurama had used to ask his question not sitting well with her.

"It's very unfortunate what has happened to Kuwabara and Hiei," he continued when she did not answer him. "And Yukina, feeling obliged to get that operation… If only there was some way we could find where the cat demons are hiding."

"Well, I thought I was following one using the demon compass," Botan offered. "Maybe I should take the compass and fly around the living world, I might be able to track them down."

Botan stood up with every intention of acting out her suggestion, if only because she was starting to feel incredibly awkward sitting on her bed with Kurama, however she did not even manage to move one full step away from the bed before firm hands grabbed her by the waist and pulled her back down. She landed a little abruptly, though Kurama had not been overly rough with her, and she turned her head warily towards him.

"You should be relaxing," he told her when her eyes found his. "Running around in the blind hope of picking up a signal on your compass isn't a wise strategy, least of all in your condition."

"I feel fine," Botan weakly protested.

"And the rebel cat demons have expended a great amount of effort disguising their location, we may never find them just by looking," Kurama added. "It would be far more prudent if we could concoct a way to draw them out of their hiding place, some way of bringing them to us."

Botan glanced over at her little porcelain maneki-neko.

"Have you been touching my things?" she asked, meeting Kurama's eyes.

"The leader of the cat demon rebels was once a spy for spirit world," Kurama replied. "Did you know that, Botan?"

"When I first woke up, you were looking inside my little box," Botan pointed out.

"She relayed a lot of information to spirit world, a lot of useful information. Knowing how meticulously Koenma keeps records of events, I would imagine that he would have made a record of the information he received from the rebel leader; perhaps he kept it in some sort of file."

"I always thought you were a gentlemen but it's really not very polite to rummage around through a lady's belongings when she's unconscious."

"If Koenma did have such a file, do you know where he might keep it?"

Botan's face dropped.

"Were you searching my room for a file?" she asked. "Why were you moving my ornaments and looking in my trinket boxes? You've sabotaged the feng shui of my room!"

"Botan, I know that Koenma is very fond of you and that he holds you in very high esteem," Kurama began.

"Lord Koenma does not store files in my bedroom," Botan bluntly pointed out.

"And I imagine any information he has from demon world is top secret and he probably doesn't share the details of it with anyone. Except perhaps you, his most trusted aide."

Botan narrowed her eyes.

"Are you asking me where Lord Koenma keeps the top secret spirit world files?" she asked.

"I thought you might know where they are," Kurama softly replied. "Considering how important a figurehead you are in spirit world."

Botan narrowed her eyes further.

"Does Lord Koenma know you're in my bedroom fiddling with my private things and using flattery to try to bribe me to relinquish top secret spirit world files to you?" she asked.

"Yes."

"Oh. Well then."

Botan stood up and Kurama stood at her side.

"We should go to see Koneko," she said quietly.

"Who?" Kurama echoed, looking less than calm and endearing for the first time since Botan had awoken.

"Koneko," she said again, opening her curtains to fully illuminate her room. "She's the key keeper."

Botan looked around her room again, silently wondering if nothing else was out of place because Kurama had not touched anything else or if it was because he had been very careful to return everything else to its original place and positioning.

"What's her name?" Kurama asked as Botan opened the door.

"Koneko," she said again, stepping out into the hall beyond.

Botan lifted a hand to her face, hiding her embarrassment behind one large sleeve as she passed a group of giggling ferry girls who were all watching Kurama step out of her bedroom.

"I don't think I'm really allowed to have boys in my room," she muttered as she caught Kurama looking at her strangely.

"Oh don't worry Botan," he said cheerfully. "I'm not really a boy."

Botan lowered her arm and they started to walk down the corridor together.

"If you're not really a boy, then what are you?" she asked.

"I'm a fox demon pretending to be a boy," he replied with a smile.

"That's worse!" she wailed. "I'm definitely not allowed to have demons in my bedroom!"

Kurama chuckled softly and Botan was almost glad that he was making jokes as it did make her feel more at ease; despite the fact that she would no doubt have to deal with a gaggle of gossiping girls later that day. They carried on in silence, shortly reaching the room where the most confidential files of spirit world were kept and Botan was surprised to see George leaving the room as they approached.

"Hello George," she greeted him. "What are you doing up here?"

"Hello Botan," he replied. "I was just bringing some tea to Koneko."

"Oh dear, are you at a loss for someone to wait on with Koenma being absent?" Botan asked.

George paused, his eyes landing on Kurama, who had stopped at Botan's side.

"Are you going to see Koneko?" he asked, still looking at Kurama as he spoke.

"Yes," Botan replied.

"Botan has very kindly offered to give me a tour of the temple," Kurama added.

George gave Kurama a long hard look and Botan began to grow concerned: as it was unlike the ogre to be anything less than a humble, gibbering wreck.

"Are you alright, George?" she asked.

Before he could reply, Kurama put his hands on Botan's shoulders and pushed her through the open doorway into the file room. As he passed George, the two exchanged a few hushed words, but they had presumably not been as quiet as they thought they had, as Botan heard every word.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm aware of the effect I have on women."

Kurama did not stop pushing Botan forward until he was inside the room and had slid the door closed, blocking out George. Botan had already noticed that Koneko was at her desk as reliably as ever and she stood up to greet her visitors.

"Kurama, this is Koneko, the key keeper of spirit world," Botan told Kurama.

She turned to him to further explain what Koneko's role was in spirit world, but words failed her when she saw the look on his face. He was staring at Koneko and he actually looked oddly surprised to see her, almost as though he recognised her and thought she ought not to be where he had just found her.

"Hello," Koneko said.

"Hello," Kurama quietly replied, before awkwardly bowing his head in greeting.

"We're looking for a file," Botan said, deciding to take the initiative, as Kurama was still staring at Koneko, his face pale and his mouth slightly open.

"Certainly, which file do you require?" Koneko asked.

"The one about the cat demons," Botan replied.

"You mean the Raspberry Sundae file?"

"Yes," Kurama said, approaching her desk. "Do you know anything about it?"

"I'm afraid I can't let you access that file."

Kurama went eerily still and Botan quickly moved over to his side at the desk.

"Koneko please," she said. "This is very important. The cat demons have taken two prisoners, we can't find them and we think they are after some information that may be in that file. We don't intend to tell them what's in the file, we just need to know what it is so that we can plan a way to negotiate with them."

"Lord Koenma says we don't negotiate with terrorists," Koneko plainly replied.

"This is different," Botan said. "Lord Koenma himself said that this was an exceptional case. Isn't that right Kurama?"

"How long have you been here?" Kurama asked Koneko, ignoring Botan entirely.

"What do you mean?" the key keeper asked.

"How long have you been in spirit world?" Kurama clarified.

"Not long, I suppose."

"Do you remember your life before you came here?"

Koneko and Botan both screwed up their faces at Kurama, who blinked and appeared to regain his senses.

"My mistake, I apologise," he muttered, turning from the desk. "I should get back. Thank you for your help Botan."

"I didn't really do… Anything…"

Botan's words trailed off as Kurama darted out the room.

"That was odd," she said, turning to Koneko. "But now that he's gone, can I see the file?"

"Absolutely no way, Botan," Koneko flatly replied, before sitting back down at her desk.

Botan stuck out her tongue at the key keeper before stomping out of the room.


	6. The File

**Chapter 6 – The File**

Yukina sat up abruptly. She was sweating and breathless and a quick glance around the room told her that the anxiety she had felt in her nightmares had manifested itself into the waking world, as the bed she was lying in, the floor, the roof and three of the walls were lined with a sparkling layer of ice. She cautiously pushed aside the sheets covering her and slipped off the bed, her bare feet walking with ease across the frozen wooden floor to the nearby window. She grabbed the curtain with the intention of pulling it open to gauge what time of day it was, but she had apparently underestimated just how anxious she had been, as the frozen curtain shattered at her touch. She quickly retracted her hand, glancing about the room before tip-toeing to the door, which was open, and leaning out into the hallway beyond.

The house was oddly silent, almost as though it was the middle of the night, but there were no interior lights on and the hallway was still well-lit, which obviously meant that it was day time. It was difficult for Yukina to guess what time it was or even what day it was – she could remember little after requesting an operation in demon world. With that thought in mind, she crept down the hallway to a long mirror by the front door, seeing that she did not look very different, but that was probably only because someone had had the foresight to wrap a long length of material around her head in a makeshift bandana.

By the fact that the makeshift bandana was pink, Yukina could only assume that it had been Botan who had created it.

She gave a small smile as she touched the bandana, fleeting snippets of Botan's voice drifting in and out of her mind: she was almost certain the ferry girl had been at her side after her operation. And thinking about Botan soon began a chain reaction of thoughts that brought Yukina back to what had awoken her in such a blind panic: she had been in the middle of a vividly accurate dream about Koenma leaving spirit world with a folder of documents and leaving them in demon world with a large, red-skinned demon with a cheerful demeanour.

At the faint sound of voices, Yukina padded her way, barefoot, through the house to the back door, stepping into the garden where she found Yusuke and Kurama standing beside Puu with Keiko and Shizuru standing across from them. Puu called out cheerfully to Yukina as he spotted her, causing the others to stop their hushed conversation and turn in her direction.

"Yukina!" Keiko gasped. "You're up!"

"How are you feeling?" Shizuru asked. "You sure you're alright to be up and about already?"

Yukina moved past them, approaching Puu. She reached out her hands towards the spirit beast and he slid his long face between her palms, relaxing into her touch.

"Hey new Hiei," Yusuke said.

Yukina turned to him questioningly and found him glancing back and forth between Kurama and Shizuru, looking suddenly very nervous.

"I meant because of the extra eye," he hurriedly added. "Because now she has a jagan eye, just like Hiei. Not because of any other possible reason she might be like Hiei."

"Smooth," Shizuru muttered.

"So, uh, Yukina, how ya feeling?" Yusuke asked, grinning at Yukina in a way that almost made her want to pull away from him.

"I feel better thank you," she said. "Where's Botan?"

"Why would you ask for Botan?" Kurama asked.

Yukina turned to face him, surprised to see that he looked even more suspicious than he had sounded.

"I thought she helped me heal," she said.

"I see," Kurama replied.

"She's back in spirit world," Yusuke offered. "I'm sure she'll come see you when she's finished doing her ferry girl duties."

Yukina nodded. Looking around the others she noticed Koenma was also absent, but another look at the still suspicious way Kurama was regarding her stopped her from asking after the spirit world prince.

"Anyway, we're off to demon world," Yusuke said.

"Will you be alright without us?" Kurama asked Keiko and Shizuru.

"Of course we will!" Keiko replied.

"Beats going to demon world," Shizuru added. "I don't mind looking after things on this side, but I've got no burning desire to cross over. No offense."

"What about you, Yukina?"

The group fell silent and Yukina slowly turned to Yusuke, feeling surprised that he was addressing her despite the fact that he had used her name.

"Me and Kurama are gonna go to demon world to look for someone, you wanna come help us?"

Yukina pointed at herself silently.

"Yeah, you," Yusuke said. "Do you want to come to demon world and help us? You could test out your new eye."

"That's really not a good idea, Yusuke," Kurama said.

"Why not?" Yusuke asked. "You said yourself this guy won't be easy to find and either Yukina will be able to use her new powers or she won't, and if she can't, she can stay with Puu and we can call her when we find the guy so she can come pick us up."

"Your second idea is acceptable, but it would be really unwise to try the first," Kurama replied.

"Okay then," Yusuke said, turning back to Yukina. "Are you ready to go?"

Yukina looked down at herself.

"Can I change my clothes first?" she asked.

"Best put on a disguise," Kurama suggested. "Nothing you made yourself or took from the ice village."

Yukina nodded and hurried back into the house. She quickly changed into some of the human clothes she kept for when Kuwabara took her places she could not practically wear her kimonos to and then hurried back outside, where she found Yusuke already on Puu's back. Kurama lifted her up and Yusuke took her hand, pulling her onto Puu's back behind him.

"Hold on," Yusuke warned her.

Yukina adjusted herself to a comfortable position – assuming that had been Yusuke's meaning – and began waving to Keiko and Shizuru as Puu stood up. When Puu leapt up into the air and began flapping his wings, Yukina let out an involuntary squeal of surprise as she was thrown about from side to side. She realised then what Yusuke had meant and threw her arms around his waist at the exact moment that Kurama grabbed an arm around her from behind, both of them slumping forward against Yusuke's back.

"You guys…" Yusuke said, smiling over his shoulder at them.

Yukina was sure he was mocking her somehow, but she was concentrating too much on not falling to care. Kurama released her after a brief pause, but she still held onto Yusuke, peering down over one the side of Puu's neck as the landscape below them shrank. They passed through a brief fog of clouds before soaring into open blue skies, the air cold and thin, the way it was in the ice village. Yukina closed her eyes and breathed it in; but the moment was short-lived as the air suddenly changed and Yukina opened her eyes again to see black skies, distant storm clouds and the all-too-familiar ridged grey landscape of demon world.

"Okay Yukina, we're looking for a guy named Iruka," Yusuke called over his shoulder to Yukina as they started to descend. "He's a bandit, so Kurama is gonna check some his old haunts from his bandit days, I'm gonna go check with my contacts and I've got an idea of something you could do that would be really helpful."

Yukina waited until Puu had landed, grunting from the impact and promptly blushing when she saw the way Yusuke was grinning at her reaction.

"You can take Puu and go ask Enki if he knows anything," Yusuke explained.

"Enki?" Yukina echoed.

"That's not a bad idea," Kurama said before jumping off of Puu's back.

Yukina flinched involuntarily when she saw that Kurama had reverted back to his full demon form, a hard look from his golden demon eyes far more intimidating and fearsome than one from his soft, green, human eyes.

"That's as close as he ever gets to admitting he was wrong about something," Yusuke whispered to Yukina before jumping down himself.

"Enki is a benevolent demon, you will be safe with him," Kurama said to Yukina. "And he knows many well-travelled demons, he may be able to tell you something useful."

"He lives up at the top of that mountain," Yusuke added, pointing to a mountain peak. "Puu knows the way, he'll take you there. When you get there, tell Enki I sent you and that I'm looking for this Iruka guy. If you find out anything interesting, come back to this point, okay?"

Yukina nodded, grabbing at Puu's feathers nervously as the spirit beast opened out his wings again.

"And remember to hold on!" Yusuke added, grinning and waving.

Yukina made to answer him but before she could Puu had taken to the air and she was forced to focus all her efforts onto holding herself in place. The flight up the mountain was mercifully short, and despite initially dreading the impact of another landing, she barely noticed the jolt she received when Puu's feet hit the ground, her attention fully focused instead on the dwelling the spirit beast had brought her to.

It looked exactly the same as the one she had seen in her dream, the one Koenma had brought a spirit world file to.

Yukina slid off of Puu's back and started towards the temple, studying every aspect of it as she walked, only stopping when a very powerful, yellow-haired female demon swaggered into her path.

"Who the hell are you?" the woman shouted at her, the stench of alcohol on her breath arguably more intimidating than her tone and energy level combined.

"Easy there, Kokou," another voice said.

A very large demon joined the woman and Yukina froze, her eyes wide.

"Hi there," the second demon greeted her. "Can I help you?"

"Yusuke sent me," Yukina managed to make herself answer.

"I see that," he replied, pointing at Puu. "I'm Enki and this is my wife Kokou."

"I'm Yukina of the ice village."

Yukina bowed her head but she felt detached from everything around her: Enki was the same red-skinned demon she had seen in her dream.

"Well Yukina of the ice village, welcome!" Enki said cheerfully. "Is there anything we can help you and Yusuke with?"

"Iruka," Yukina numbly replied. "We're looking for a demon bandit named Iruka."

"I'm sorry little lady, I've never heard of him," Enki said. "But come on inside, I'll ask around, see if anybody else knows who he is."

"Probably some asshole who owes Yusuke money…" Kokou grumbled before taking a swig from a bottle she was carrying.

Yukina followed cautiously as Enki and his wife led the way into the temple. The interior of the temple was in no way familiar, but in her dream she had seen Koenma meet Enki outside the temple, where he had been cooking food over a fire and Koenma had clearly handed him a brown paper file. Still feeling a little dazed – and unable to deny the thought that the dream had perhaps been a vision witnessed by her jagan eye – Yukina was almost glad when Enki stopped walking and invited her to sit down on a stone bench in front of a low table that was piled high with a messy arrangement of magazines and newspapers.

"I'll go talk to my men and I'll get someone to bring you some tea," Enki offered. "I won't be long. Help yourself, by the way."

He indicated the piles of paper paraphernalia on the table and Yukina nodded, waiting until he had left the room before picking through a few very old copies of the Demon Daily, pushing aside several tattered issues of Play Demon and recoiling in disgust as she uncovered the rotted, maggot-infested remains of what had once been some sort of flat pie. She started to sit back but paused as she spotted something lodged under a copy of the Demon's Digest. Carefully reaching her fingers into the piles of paper, mindful of the maggots, she felt out the shape of a chunky folder of papers. She slid it free from the pile, unsure if she felt surprised or vindicated to find the same file she had seen in her dream.

It even bore the royal seal of Prince Koenma of spirit world.

And it was titled "Raspberry Sundae".

Yukina glanced about herself to be sure that she was alone before emptying out the contents of the folder onto the stone bench at her side. She spread out the papers within, finding them to contain the sort of information she had more or less expected them to: they all appeared to be reports of information the leader of the rebel cat demons had relayed to spirit world. They were reports about demons conspiring to enter the living world, about breaches in the barriers between the worlds and about demons conspiring to take over spirit world. All the documents looked the same except for one, a slightly longer document positioned at the bottom of the pile as it had obviously been at the very back of the file.

It was a report about the day the rebel leader had perished.

Yukina could remember the day far clearer than she would ever admit to anyone else. She had been returning from the living world after another unsuccessful search for her missing brother and the rebel leader had met her in demon world as reliably as ever and together they had started the journey towards the ice village. Along the way they had encountered a male cat demon who had often appeared before them, but this time he was not alone. There must have been more than a dozen demons accompanying him and they were all heavily armed and it was the first – and last – time Yukina ever saw the rebel leader look worried. Usually she would laugh and run circles around anyone who tried to stop her, but that day she panicked and told the ice maiden to run back the way they had come from. Yukina did as she was told, knowing that the danger was great if running away was the best strategy the rebel leader could think of. When she reached the portal to the living world she stopped and turned around.

She saw the rebel leader running at her, a bloodied wound at her shoulder and her pursuers gaining on her. The last thing she saw was the urgent look in the rebel leader's blue eyes before she thrust out both hands and shoved Yukina through the portal.

The impact of the landing had knocked Yukina unconscious and by the time she had come to her senses and returned to demon world, all that remained by the portal was a blood stain and three pink and cream petals from the raspberry sundae the rebel leader usually used as a weapon. Several days later Yukina heard from demons in the marketplace that the rebel leader had been slaughtered and her fellow rebels had fled the area in fear for their lives. With no way of confirming this information and no real reason to feel the need to question it, Yukina had accepted it as fact. The rebel leader had always joking told her that she expected to meet a bloody demise one day, claiming that the "price on my head is too high for someone not to want to cut it off of my body"; but because she was always so cheerful and had always made evading her enemies seem so effortless, Yukina had assumed that she would never be caught. That day when she was caught though, it seemed only logical that she had died.

Yukina turned the page and scanned through the file concerning the rebel leader's death: it confirmed that she had been attacked by the male cat demon and his cohorts and it confirmed that she had been fatally wounded. The file explained that the SDF had encountered the altercation and had intervened; but what happened next was both new and unbelievable to Yukina.

The more she read, the harder it became to breathe.

When a hiruiseki dropped onto the stone bench and rolled to the floor Yukina remembered where she was and what she was doing and she hurriedly stuffed all the documents back into the folder, successfully hiding it again amongst the mass of old media on the table an instant before Enki returned to the room with a tray of tea. As she watched him attempt to balance the tray atop the piles of paper, she silently wondered why Koenma had thought demon world was a safe place to hide such controversial information about a demon world problem.

* * *

Kurama forced a polite smile as he approached the bar and his gesture was returned with an indifferent glare, delivered over the top of a pair of very unflattering and old-fashioned eyeglasses.

"Good afternoon," Kurama greeted the insect bartender. "You may not remember me, but I–"

"I remember you," the bartender interrupted him before spitting into a glass and wiping it with a grubby cloth. "You're that fox demon."

Kurama glanced up at the angled, semi-reflective metal plate at the back of the bar that the bottles of alcohol were mounted onto, seeing the face of Yoko Kurama looking back at him.

"Yes," he said, lowering his eyes to the bartender again. "What gave me away: the ears or the bushy tail?"

"Yeah, I remember you," the bartender said, placing the glass down on the bar top. "Funny guy. Kurama."

"Yes, that's me," Kurama patiently replied. "Mister Comedy."

"You're hilarious. You crack me up. You never paid your tab before you left last time. You owe me money."

"I haven't been here in over twenty-five years."

"You owe me money."

"Right. Well I'll pay you whatever it is you think I owe you if you can answer me one simple question."

"I don't like you and your fox trickery."

"Have you seen Iruka lately?"

"Who wants to know?"

Kurama's lip twitched; he always found it so much harder to remain diplomatic when he reverted to his full demon form.

"I do, obviously," he said.

"I might have seen him," the bartender replied.

Kurama turned his head to glance at the array of wanted posters stuck to the back wall, starting towards them as he spotted a few faces he recognised. He smiled in spite of himself, pointing to a crude pencil sketch of Kuwabara's face.

"I hardly think this one is a wanted criminal," he told the bartender.

"If there's a reward offered, I let them hang whatever they want," he replied.

Kurama started to argue that there was surely no reward before stopping short as he saw the words "three fresh slug sausages or a basket of soft fruit". He shook his head before turning his attention to the posters depicting wanted rebel cat demons, unsurprised to see Tora and several other faces he recognised.

"This is a mistake," he said, tearing down the poster depicting the rebel leader. "This is a picture of Raspberry Sundae. She died thirty years ago."

Kurama placed the poster down on the bar and the bartender glanced at it.

"Your angry little friend said pretty much the same thing when he took down the poster," he said. "But Iruka made a new poster and put it up this morning."

Kurama paused, unsure if he had heard correctly or not.

"My angry little friend?" he said quietly.

"The little one with the spiky hair and the quick temper," the bartender said.

"Hiei?" Kurama asked.

"Probably," the bartender replied.

"Hiei was here?"

"Yeah. He didn't stay long, he just stole all the wanted posters that Iruka had hung up and ran off again."

"Including this one?"

Kurama picked up the poster he had placed on the bar and the bartender nodded.

"I see," he said, turning the poster around to look down at it again.

He scanned over the text before shaking his head in disbelief.

"This poster implies that she lives," he concluded.

"Yeah," the bartender replied. "Are you gonna settle your debts or buy a drink? Because this ain't a library, you know."

"Raspberry Sundae is dead," Kurama said.

"Iruka said she's alive."

"No. That's just a legend. That's just a rumour, no doubt started by some of her followers who struggled to accept her death and hoped to scare off their enemies. She is definitely dead."

"You make it sound like you're talking to a guy who cares. You want answers? Try asking the guy who made the poster."

Kurama nodded.

"So Iruka was here this morning?" he asked. "Any idea where he might be now?"

"Who wants to know?"

Kurama growled in annoyance and left the tavern, relieved when he found Yusuke outside.

"Hey, I found a guy who said he might be able to get Iruka to meet us tomorrow morning at the corn field outside this town," Yusuke greeted him.

"Perfect," Kurama said. "Let's get out of here."

"You didn't find anything out?" Yusuke asked.

"Nothing," Kurama replied.

Yusuke whistled for Puu and they started back towards the agreed meeting point.

"So who is this Iruka guy anyway?" Yusuke asked as they walked.

"He's the deputy leader of the loyalist cat demons."

Yusuke frowned.

"Aren't the loyalists the bad guys?" he asked.

"There is no good or bad here, at least not as far as you or I are concerned, Yusuke," Kurama replied.

"Okay…"

They continued on in silence, eventually finding Puu awaiting them with a very pale and bewildered looking Yukina on his back. Yusuke jumped up in front of her, grinning back over his shoulder at her.

"Did you survive flying Puu solo, Yukina?" he asked.

She nodded but she looked as though she was ready to pass out. Kurama jumped up behind her and they took off again, heading back to the living world.

"Did you learn anything new at Enki's?" Yusuke asked Yukina as they passed through the portal to living world.

She shook her head.

"Ah well," Yusuke said with a shrug. "This Iruka guy better damn well show up tomorrow."

* * *

After excusing herself on the basis of poor health, Yukina returned to the bedroom she usually slept in in the Kuwabara household, quickly stuffing a giant teddy bear Kuwabara had won for her at a carnival under the bedsheets and arranging it to look as though it was her own body asleep in the bed. She then crept down the stairs and out the front door as the others noisily debated a television show in the living room. She had learned enough about the city to know her way around and so she caught a bus that took her to the beachfront, and from there she quickly walked to the city harbour, stopping by an empty dock. The sun was setting, but she was aware that she was a day later than the last note from Tora had advised she ought to be.

However, despite her lateness, she did not have to wait long for Tora to arrive.

"Yo."

Yukina turned around and found Tora had arrived alone.

"I've told you all I know," Yukina said.

"That's probably true," Tora replied. "I can see that now. But the problem is, one of our prisoners has kind of implicated one of your friends as withholding information from us. And I'm still waiting for Koenma to answer me."

"Koenma won't meet with you, you must know that," Yukina pointed out. "And even if he did, there's nothing he can tell you that you don't already know."

"That depends on what I already know, doesn't it?"

"If your problem is with Koenma, you have no reason to hold my friends. Please let them go."

"Hmm… Let them go… No, I don't think I'm going to do that."

Yukina sighed.

"Please," she tried. "You're not gaining anything by holding them prisoner. You're only drawing attention to yourself – Mister Hiei is in charge of the border patrol in demon world, his absence will be noticed, and those who would come looking for him might not show you any mercy."

"I don't expect you to understand, ice princess, but this is a matter of honour," Tora replied.

The cat demon had commenced pacing back and forth and Yukina was unsure if she was doing so out of frustration or to make her feel trapped.

"If you'd ever cared about anyone, you'd understand how important it is to understand and avenge the circumstances of their death," Tora continued.

"That's what this is all about?" Yukina asked. "Vengeance?"

"It's not vengeance, it's honour," Tora argued. "The spirit world soldiers told me our leader was killed by Iruka and his lackeys, but that's not the story Iruka tells."

"Isn't Iruka one of your enemies?"

"Yes."

"Then how do you know what he says about anything?"

"I have my sources. My point is, there is another version of events circulating in demon world: Raspberry Sundae was fighting Iruka and his associates but the spirit world soldiers arrived and broke up the fight. They say it was one of the spirit world soldiers who dealt the fatal blow. After she spied for them and just before they were due to hand over the land they promised us, they turned around and killed her so that they wouldn't have to fulfil their end of the deal!"

"That's not true!"

"Oh no?"

Tora stopped pacing and glared at Yukina.

"If I tell you what really happened, will you release my friends?" Yukina asked.

"I thought you said you didn't know any more…" Tora growled.

"I found something out today, something that might change your mind about what you're doing right now," Yukina said.

"Tell me."

"Will you free my friends?"

"Tell me and I'll consider it."

"Okay… Raspberry Sundae was fighting Iruka and his men and they did fatally wound her. The SDF – the spirit world soldiers – intercepted the fight and took your leader back to spirit world to try to save her life. They did all they could, but they couldn't save her. That's why you never found her body or her weapons. She was taken to spirit world."

"And?"

"That's it."

"I don't believe you."

Yukina took a cautious step back.

"I see you've had a little operation since the last time we met," Tora said, pointing a finger at Yukina's pink bandana. "It's a funny thing, the jagan eye. It takes years to master it. It's taken me months just to figure out how to do the basics, I bet you haven't even figured out how to control yours yet."

"I just…"

"And your own powers aren't exactly the most intimidating…"

Yukina saw movement on the edges of her vision and realised fearfully that Tora had not come alone to meet her.

"If you're so keen to see your friends, why don't I reunite you with them?" Tora said with a malicious grin. "And maybe while you're there, you'll consider telling my everything you know; though if you don't tell me willingly, I have plenty of ways of getting the information out of you…"

* * *

"It seems we may have made some progress," Kurama said, looking around the others.

Yusuke was sitting on the floor playing with Eikichi, Shizuru and Keiko were sitting together on a sofa and Koenma and Botan were sitting together on another sofa.

"We have to return to demon world tomorrow morning, but we believe we will be able to find the one we were looking for," Kurama continued. "And hopefully he will be able to help us figure out what the rebels want."

"I thought they just wanted Yukina?" Keiko asked.

"No," Kurama said, shaking his head. "I think this is part of the problem."

He passed her the wanted poster of the rebel leader.

"It seems some in demon world are perpetuating an old rumour that the rebel leader never really died," he explained.

"That's ridiculous!" Koenma said, leaning across the room and snatching the poster from Keiko's hands.

He ignored the harsh looks Keiko and Shizuru gave him, but did linger on the curious way Yusuke was regarding him.

"You haven't spent this long out of spirit world since the Dark Tournament," Yusuke said, as though sensing that Koenma was awaiting an explanation. "Or since the whole mess with Sensui."

"What are you implying, Yusuke?" Koenma asked.

"Ooh, look!" Botan said, tugging the wanted poster from Koenma. "She looks familiar! Is this the leader of the rebel cat demons?"

"You don't know her!" Koenma snapped, snatching back the poster.

"She looks like Koneko," Botan replied.

"Who's Koneko?" Keiko asked.

"The key keeper of spirit world," Kurama replied, giving Koenma a hard look.

"And how would you know what the key keeper of spirit world looks like, Kurama?" Koenma shot back.

"Well obviously she looks like this fool," Yusuke said, poking a finger at the wanted poster in Koenma's hand. "Botan just said she did. Weren't you listening?"

Koenma drew in a breath to argue, to point out that Botan had not explained who Koneko was, but changed his mind as another thought occurred to him.

"Who are you meeting in demon world tomorrow?" he asked Kurama.

"Somebody who may have answers," Kurama replied.

"Who?" Koenma pressed.

"We're not telling you," Yusuke cut in. "Because you never tell us anything useful."

He nodded at Keiko, who shook her head.

"I never said Koenma was keeping secrets, you said that," she reminded him.

"I'd like to know," Koenma insisted, glancing back and forth between Kurama and Yusuke. "A gang of demons hiding in the living world and taking prisoners is a concern for spirit world, you know."

"We'll tell you tomorrow," Yusuke said with a grin. "After we've met him."

"I don't like the fact that neither of you will tell me who it is," Koenma grumbled.

"Sucks to be kept in the dark until the last minute, eh Koenma?" Yusuke replied.

Koenma sighed, deciding to leave the matter, as Yusuke would clearly only continue teasing him rather than give a straight answer if he did try to push it any further.

* * *

Kuwabara began to awaken, fleeting images of Yukina in peril bothering his mind as he blinked back the vestiges of sleep and the waking world came into focus around him. He started to wonder if the visions that had plagued his dreams were a warning of something ominous to come: but as he lifted his head and looked around, he quickly forgot all about his dreams, realising then that he was the one in peril.

He was sitting on a flat, damp rock, his back resting against another rock, and his arms were held up at his sides by what looked like plain ivy. There were further lengths of ivy around his waist and ankles, all binding him to the rocks. He was overlooking the sea from a high vantage point at the top of a crumbled cliff ledge and by the colour of the sky and the length of the shadows on the water it appeared to be either late evening or early morning. He was not really sure where he was or how he had ended up in such a compromising position, but by far his biggest concern was the tennis ball sized sphere of tiny yellow eyes mounted on thin yellow stalks that was resting on his left thigh.

Kuwabara blinked. The ball of eyes all blinked. Kuwabara began trying to wrestle his arms free whilst attempting to kick his left leg to dislodge the creepy, sticky object watching him. When he failed to free himself he tensed up and let out a jolt of spirit energy from his entire body, his bonds snapping and a high-pitched squawk paining his ears. He quickly scrambled to his feet, looking down to see that the ivy that had been holding him in place belonged to the ball of eyes, which was apparently some kind of demon plant. He quickly stamped a foot onto the ball, grinding it into the rocks before stumbling back and looking about for an escape route.

As he looked around, he noticed three things, feeling increasingly desperate with each discovery: he first noticed that he appeared to be on a small, overgrown, uninhabited island, he then noticed that Hiei was in the same position he had just freed himself from and finally he noticed two small faces watching him silently from the top of the collapsed cliff.

"Hey!" he shouted up to them.

The faces moved and he felt even more bewildered to learn that they belonged to two identical little girls, each no taller than one of his legs.

"Did you do this to me?" he asked them. "You little brats!"

When they did not respond, he started to climb the rocks towards them, but after just a few steps, they began to scream. He stopped, looking about himself nervously, before deciding to press on.

"What are you doing to my children, you oaf?"

"Huh?"

Kuwabara stopped one rock away from the girls as a woman appeared behind them; he realised then that the little girls were not really little girls and that the woman with them was not really a woman.

"How did you get free?"

Kuwabara did not recognise any of the three cat demons in front of him – neither the fully grown one nor her offspring – but he knew that they were surely part of the group of cat demons who had attacked him at the junk yard.

"Where am I?" he asked.

"In hell!" the older cat demon shouted back.

"What the-ah!"

Kuwabara stumbled back as a hissy little piranha plant sprouted out of the older cat demon's hand. His initial reaction to any demon plant was always one of fear, but as he looked down at the miniscule plant and thought about how easily he had over-powered the ivy plant, he started to think that the demon plants the cat demons used were probably only as powerful as the cat demons themselves: and Kurama had said that the cat demons were quite weak.

"Listen lady, I don't want trouble," he said, deciding to try to reason with her. "I don't know why you tied me up with your weird plant, but if I was able to break out of it, then Hiei will definitely be able to break out and when he breaks out, he won't be as nice to you as I've been."

The cat demon narrowed her eyes and lifted her hand, bringing the little plant up in front of her face.

"What's that little thing gonna do?" Kuwabara asked with a grin. "Chew on my finger?"

"No, it's going to blind you."

"What?"

A second later the plant spat something white at Kuwabara's face and he felt as though his eyes had been set on fire.


	7. Last Secret

**Chapter 7 – Last Secret**

Yusuke slid from Puu's back, landing on the soft ground of a farming field. Kurama leapt down behind him, reverted once more to his full demon form due to their arrival in his home world. Yusuke took a long moment to look at Kurama's face, the tension in his jaw, the thinness of his lips, the darkness in his golden eyes and the persistent twitch of his right ear noticeable even to Yusuke's often unobservant eyes.

"You okay?" he asked.

"He's late," Kurama answered, his eyes watching the lone tree in the middle of the field they had agreed to meet at.

"Maybe we're early," Yusuke said with a shrug.

Kurama gave a small growl and marched up to the tree. Yusuke petted Puu on the head and then followed after him.

"You seem a little uptight," he said.

"I'm just anxious – as I'm sure you are – to put an end to all this nonsense," Kurama replied.

"Yeah, I hear ya," Yusuke said. "Too bad we can't fight them, right? We could've kicked them all back into demon world right at the start."

When Kurama did not answer him, Yusuke again felt the need to ask a question nobody else around him seemed to care about the answer to.

"Are you taking this personally?"

"I'm taking this seriously," Kurama replied.

"It kinda seems like you're taking it seriously personally…" Yusuke said carefully.

"This is something that merits serious consideration," Kurama said. "Because as you can now see, we are dealing with creatures who don't see fit to play fair."

Yusuke turned around and found a group of at least fifteen demons standing in the field, fronted by a male cat demon.

"I guess you must be Iruka," Yusuke called over.

"Yoko Kurama," the cat demon called back.

"No, I'm Yusuke Urameshi," Yusuke replied.

The cat demon moved away from the remainder of his group, walking straight up to Kurama.

"It's been a long time," he said.

"Not long enough," Kurama gruffly replied.

"I understand my wife has been giving you a spot of bother."

"Your wife?" Yusuke cut in.

The cat demon turned to him, eying him over in a way Yusuke did not particularly appreciate, though it was a look he had grown accustomed to over the course of his life.

"Tora is not your wife, Iruka," Kurama said.

Iruka turned his attention back to Kurama.

"How would you know?" he asked. "A little bird told me you've spent the last twenty-five years playing human in the living world, "Shuichi"."

A murmur of amusement passed over the gang of demons behind Iruka.

"Tora was always impetuous and prone to bad decision-making, but even a hot-headed fool like Tora has enough sense to stay clear of a thoughtless foot soldier like you," Kurama said.

"Is there a reason you summoned me?" Iruka asked. "I wouldn't want to keep you from your other, human, life. Either of you…"

He turned to give Yusuke another brief look of disdain.

"Why are you promising a bounty for the head of someone you and I both know is already dead?" Kurama asked.

"I don't promise anything I can't deliver," Iruka replied.

"I don't doubt your leader would fund any bounty you named, but I do doubt the legitimacy of your wanted poster for the former rebel leader," Kurama explained.

"Ah, I see," Iruka said, finding his smile again. "This about our old friend "Raspberry Sundae"."

"She died long ago," Kurama said firmly. "You should know that better than anyone: you were the one who dealt her the fatal blow that took her life."

"How do you know that? Were you there? I don't remember you being there… Which is odd, because every other time I had that girl cornered, you had a strange habit of showing up and helping her escape capture."

Yusuke raised his eyebrows at Kurama, who kept his attention on Iruka.

"I didn't come here to discuss the past with you, Iruka," Kurama said. "I came to discuss the future. You need to stop spreading lies about the deceased and you need to accept the fact that you have hunted the rebels into near extinction."

"I'm not the one spreading lies, Kurama," Iruka replied. "And I don't stop the hunt until all the girls are back with the rest of us or dead."

"You need to consider your future actions very carefully."

"Oh really?"

"Yes. Or you may not have a future."

Yusuke opened his mouth to intervene but stopped short when Kurama grabbed a hand onto the tree behind him and its branches creaked over towards Iruka.

"Are you sure you want to threaten me?" Iruka asked. "We do outnumber you."

He pointed a thumb over his shoulder at his gang to illustrate his point.

"You do outnumber me, but I alone am more powerful than all of you combined," Kurama answered.

"You've really lost your fun, foxy sense of humour, Kurama," Iruka said.

"Yes I have," Kurama agreed. "You killed it."

Iruka looked thoughtful for a moment, his eyes scanning over the branches reaching for his head like wooden fingers, before taking a decisive step back.

"Okay, I'll play," he said. "It's like this: me and my men here had that girl cornered. I know I hurt her badly enough to end her life, but I was never afforded the chance to confirm her death or to recover her weapons because the good old spirit world Special Defence Force showed up and took the body – and everything on it – back to spirit world."

Kurama gave a short, humourless laugh.

"And you think that means she is still alive?" he asked.

"I'm not sure," Iruka replied. "At first I was sure she was dead anyway. But something changed. We caught and converted a rebel a couple of months back and she told us spirit world took their leader for another reason."

"I'm growing weary of the sound of your voice," Kurama warned. "You had better say something constructive or you will be the latest casualty of the cat demon quarrel."

"I don't have anything else to say. If you want to know why spirit world took the girl, why don't you ask someone in spirit world?"

Kurama released the tree, which swayed back into its original position and shape. Yusuke started to suggest that they return to Puu, but before he could finish Kurama punched Iruka in the face.

"That's new," Yusuke muttered, at first too surprised to see the fox demon using such a blunt and basic physical attack rather than respond more sensibly.

When the gang of demons who had accompanied Iruka began charging towards them, Yusuke made to again suggest to Kurama that they leave; but Kurama had pounced at Iruka and the two were entangled in an inexplicably physical, hands-on battle for two demons who usually relied on plants to fight.

"Damn it…" Yusuke said with a sigh.

Unsure how politically correct it would be to blast Iruka's gang into oblivion, Yusuke instead relied on his fists and his feet to knock them down. They were all relatively weak and within minutes half of them were unconscious on the ground and the other half had surrounded Iruka and run off, leaving Yusuke staring at an uncharacteristically ruffled and bloody-lipped Yoko Kurama.

"Hey fox boy," Yusuke said, waiting until Kurama looked at him before continuing. "Wanna tell me what the hell that was all about? Because you were definitely taking that seriously personally!"

* * *

Kuwabara sat down hard onto a rock, his face in his hands. His eyes were still stinging and he was still almost certain that he had been permanently blinded, but a pair of hands had guided him to what he could feel and hear was a campfire, and he felt strangely at ease as soon as he sat down.

"What did you do to him?"

"Yukina?"

Kuwabara's head snapped up and he opened his eyes, ignoring how painful it was to do so. He saw a blurry image of a fire and several faces sitting around it and he could just about make out what looked like Yukina standing at his side.

"Relax snowflake, he'll be fine," a sarcastic voice said.

"Kazuma, are you alright?"

Kuwabara blinked a few times and almost managed to recognise the face looking at him as Yukina's.

"I had a nightmare, a vision that you were in danger!" he said.

"That wasn't a nightmare, we are in danger," Yukina answered him.

Kuwabara rubbed at his eyes frantically before blinking a few more times to find his vision had almost fully returned. He was sitting in front of a medium campfire, with Yukina at his side, a row of cat demons across the fire – including the mother who had blinded him along with her identical twin daughters – and the cat demon with the jagan eye was standing at one end of the row.

"What do you want with us?" Kuwabara asked, addressing his question to the cat demon on her feet.

"Tora thinks we know something about her plight," Yukina quietly replied before sitting down at Kuwabara's side.

"Tora knows you know something about her plight," Tora said sternly, glaring at Yukina.

"I don't know anything about any of you," Kuwabara said. "Well, except that that lady over there has a really nasty little plant that blinds people…"

He glowered across the flames at the black-haired cat demon who had blinded him and she glowered back.

"I've already told you everything I know," Yukina said. "Please, let us go. Or if you won't let me go, can you please at least release Kazuma and Mister Hiei?"

"I forgot about Hiei," Kuwabara said, snapping back to attention. "Hey, I thought me and Hiei already left this island. I remember escaping from a plant and running away…"

"That was an illusion," Tora told him. "Induced by the seeing ivy and watched by my jagan eye."

"…The seeing ivy?" Kuwabara said slowly. "You mean that creepy plant with all the eyes?"

"That you somehow managed to escape from, yes," Tora replied. "How did you manage to escape?"

"I could sense that my Yukina was in danger."

Kuwabara turned to Yukina to smile at her, noticing then that she was dressed in the clothes she usually only wore when they went to the cinema or shopping and she had a clumsy pink bandana on her head.

"Are you alright, my love?" he asked her quietly.

"No," she whispered back. "We have to get out of here."

"Where's everybody else? Where's Urameshi and Kurama?"

"Nobody knows you're here," Tora interrupted. "None of your friends know where you are, so none of them have come looking for you."

Kuwabara looked around the fire at the cat demons again. The sky overhead was getting lighter, so he assumed it must be morning, which made their need for the fire all the more unusual.

"How did you all get here? And what do you want with us?" he asked, turning back to Tora.

"That's an interesting question," Tora replied. "Because we originally came here in search of Yoko Kurama."

"Kurama?" Kuwabara echoed.

"Yes," Tora said. "Kurama. But then my jagan eye found Yukina and our plans changed. We only wanted closure at first: we wanted to know how our leader died and why we never found her body or her weapons after her death. We thought Kurama might have some answers, but Yukina seemed better placed to fill us in, since she was one of the last ones to see our leader alive."

"Is that true?" Kuwabara asked Yukina.

Yukina nodded solemnly.

"But along the way, we've learned a lot of new and interesting information," Tora continued. "First we found out that our leader and all her belongings were taken to spirit world after she was wounded. And now, thanks to Yukina, we've found out a little more about what happened after that."

"I don't have anything else to tell you!" Yukina cried.

"You didn't need to say a word," Tora reminded her. "It only took minutes with the seeing ivy to get the rest of the information out of you."

Yukina gasped.

"It's not true!" she tried. "Whatever your plant told you, it's not true!"

"So if you're done being creepy and using your weird plants on us, can we go?" Kuwabara asked. "Did they hurt you, Yukina?"

"Not yet," Yukina muttered.

"What do you need Hiei for?" Kuwabara asked Tora.

"We don't need Hiei for anything," Tora replied with a shrug. "He offered himself to us and once he'd found us, we couldn't let him go back and tell anyone else where we were hiding."

"Typical Hiei…" Kuwabara grumbled.

"You could let him go now," Yukina said. "If you have all the answers you wanted, you have no reason to hold him here."

"No, we're not letting Hiei go," Tora said. "And we're not letting this one go either."

She pointed at Kuwabara.

"Me?" he asked. "What do you want from me?"

"I need a couple of decent hostages if I want to have any chance of negotiating with Koenma," Tora replied.

"Koenma doesn't negotiate with terrorists," Kuwabara said.

"Koenma promised us something a long time ago," Tora said. "Our leader acted as a spy for him in exchange for a piece of land within the spirit world owned region of demon world, a place we could all safely live without the constant threat from the loyalists. Our leader did a lot of work for Koenma and she was taken down during one of her missions for him; but still he didn't hand over the land like he promised."

"I guess that doesn't sound fair," Kuwabara agreed. "Though you ladies are all demons and I don't think anyone in spirit world really likes demons so much."

"They liked our leader while she was working for them. We upheld our end of the bargain, they owe this to us. We were hoping to negotiate the land from Koenma. But last night we learned something that has changed our plans again."

Yukina shook her head.

"It's not true," she said.

"I haven't told you what it is yet," Tora pointed out.

"So tell us already," Kuwabara said.

"When our leader was mortally wounded, the soldiers of the Special Defence Force took her to spirit world," Tora explained. "Koenma, we are led to believe, felt guilty that she had perished working for him. He tasked his best healers with helping her recover, but the damage was too great. In his desperation to salvage her life, he went to his father and begged to have the agreement re-written: instead of spirit world giving us a safe place to live, they used their powers to transfer our leader's soul into another body. Yasashi – or Raspberry Sundae, as she was more widely known – is still alive."

"…What does that have to do with me or Yukina?" Kuwabara asked. "Or Hiei?"

"Koenma has gone to great lengths to hide Yasashi's location and identity, but he is a fool. She was the most powerful cat demon ever born in demon world – even more so than the tribe leader who wanted her for his wife. Others think she is frivolous but they don't see that beneath her friendly façade she is a cunning, clever, powerful force that cannot possibly be contained within a false body. She will have been using this time to recover, to regain her strength and to learn; and when she returns, she will be stronger than ever."

"Like Kurama?" Kuwabara asked.

"I suppose so," Tora reluctantly agreed. "But unlike Kurama, Yasashi will not be drawn into the silliness of the world she was placed in."

"So… She's a human?"

"No."

"Huh?"

Tora turned expectantly to Yukina.

"Koenma created a spirit body and identity for Yasashi," she said quietly. "He even gave her a job in spirit world…"

"And, according to your own thoughts, Koenma hasn't done a very good job of hiding what he's done," Tora added.

Yukina looked up at Kuwabara sorrowfully.

"The name he gave her, the way he made her look, the job he gave her…" she said. "It's all so obvious…"

"So…" Kuwabara began. "Somewhere in spirit world there's a super-powered, super-smart cat demon, gaining power and getting ready to break free?"

"Exactly," Tora said smugly.

"Gees…" Kuwabara muttered to himself. "Wonder what she's like?"

* * *

"Anytime you feel like talking…"

Yusuke glared at Kurama, who, as they had just returned to the living world, had been returned to his human form.

"I'm not sure what came over me," Kurama said, wiping away the congealing blood from his lower lip. "I'm sorry Yusuke."

"I don't care that you punched that guy in the face – he was an arrogant asshole and he deserved it – I'm just a little pissed off that you've been giving Yukina such a hard time for not telling us that she knew this Raspberry Sundae girl and now I've just found out that you knew her too and you never told us."

Kurama nodded and Yusuke raised his eyebrows expectantly.

"That was my way of telling you I'm not landing Puu until you explain to me what the hell is going on," Yusuke pressed.

"Of course," Kurama said with a sigh. "And may I begin by acknowledging that you are indeed correct: I am taking this personally."

"I know you are," Yusuke flatly replied.

"I did know her – Yasashi was her real name – a long time ago. At first, she was someone I hunted, because the bounty on her head was double the one offered on that wanted poster we have. When I did find her, she surprised me on two accounts: firstly that she cared more about having fun with her friends than actual power, despite being the leader of a major rebellion, and secondly that despite her blithe demeanour, she was an incredibly skilled and cunning warrior. I could have defeated her, but I became distracted by my own curiosity. I continued to chase her, but not because I wanted to catch her, just because I wanted to understand her. Fun and games were things I had no time or thoughts for, but she made them look easy. She had me under her thrall but I don't she ever realised it."

"Oh…"

"What?"

"I get it."

"Do you?"

"Yeah, sure. You've got a crush on her."

"Don't be ridiculous, Yusuke."

"So do you still want her now that you're Shuichi again, or do you only want her when you're Yoko?"

"Yusuke, the woman is dead."

"I guess she looked kinda hot in that wanted poster. Did you seal the deal?"

"What?"

"Did you seal the deal?"

Kurama narrowed his eyes.

"Have you "sealed the deal" with Keiko?" he asked in a low voice.

Yusuke twitched involuntarily.

"That's a very sensitive and ongoing issue," he mumbled.

"Alright then," Kurama replied.

"But… Why didn't you say something sooner?" Yusuke asked.

"I didn't have anything to say," Kurama replied. "I wasn't there when Yasashi perished, and although my association with her was perhaps longer than Yukina's, I think she was probably closer to Yukina than she ever was to me."

"What do you mean?"

"When I met her, we fought."

"Right…"

"The first time it was because I was trying to capture her, but after that… It became more of a… Series of sparring sessions."

""Sparring sessions", huh? Is that what they called it in demon world back in your day, old man?"

"Very funny. No. We just… Sparred. Although sometimes…"

"Yeah?"

"Sometimes she called it dancing, but I'm almost certain that was just another of her jokes. She liked to mock me… Sometimes I don't understand why I kept going back for more…"

Puu landed and Yusuke and Kurama leapt to the ground.

"It's strange to think of it all now," Kurama continued as Puu preened his ruffled feathers back into place. "When I met her, I had no time or place for friendship or fun: those were things I learned about and grew to appreciate in my human life. I didn't even understand the word affection until I merged my soul with Shuichi's. I suppose that, since that day at the ice cream parlour, I've been wondering if my relationship with Yasashi would have been different if I had met her now. Maybe if I had only just met now, I…"

"Would have sealed the deal?" Yusuke offered.

"You're incredibly puerile and insensitive sometimes, Yusuke," Kurama flatly replied.

"You're the one being an ass here, Kurama," Yusuke scoffed. "At least I can admit when I've done something dumb. Why don't you just admit that you wanted her and you were too chicken to make a move and now it's too late?"

Puu took to the air to return to his roosting location out of sight, leaving Yusuke and Kurama alone in the disused field.

"Sometimes I think she's spoiled me for any other," Kurama said quietly, his eyes on the ground as he spoke. "She was a magnificent creature."

"That's just first love!" Yusuke said with a casual, dismissive wave of his hand. "I can't believe I'm having to tell you that! I'm twenty-four and you're like a thousand and twenty-four! Shouldn't you have learned this basic relationship stuff during puberty? Which for you was like what, some time back in the 12th century?"

Kurama lifted his eyes to Yusuke and started to smile; but his expression quickly changed when he saw a flash of blue at one of Yusuke's shoulders.

"How long have you been eavesdropping, Botan?" he said harshly.

"Huh?" Yusuke grunted, looking back over his shoulder.

Botan slowly stood up, peering over Yusuke's shoulder from behind a pair of large dark glasses.

"What the hell are you doing?" Yusuke asked her.

She stepped out from behind Yusuke, grinning nervously. Yusuke ran his eyes over her, noticing that she was wearing jeans and that stupid sweater decorated with fish again.

"Don't you have some dead people to give ordeals to?" he asked.

"I wasn't eavesdropping," she said, slowly pulling off her dark glasses and looking over at Kurama meekly.

"I believe you were, Botan," Kurama replied.

"Eavesdropping implies that I was listening in on a private conversation with malicious intent!" she said.

"And how would you define what you were doing?" Kurama asked her.

"I was minding my own business flying on my oar and the two of you started flying beside me and started a conversation that I just so happened to hear only a very small part of!"

"Idiot," Yusuke growled.

"I won't tell anyone," Botan quickly said to Kurama. "I'm very good at keeping secrets! I've never told Keiko or Yukina that Hiei is Yukina's missing brother!"

"You've come damn close to it more than once though," Yusuke said.

"So have you!" she snapped at him.

"What did you hear, Botan?" Kurama asked.

"Not much…" Botan said, trying to look innocent.

"That means she heard everything," Yusuke told Kurama.

"Well maybe if it hadn't been so interesting, I wouldn't have felt so compelled to eavesdrop!" Botan argued.

"Thought you said you weren't "eavesdropping"…?" Yusuke muttered.

"I wasn't!"

Botan glanced back and forth between Yusuke and Kurama, her ponytail swinging wildly about as she did so and her face growing pinker as a look of guilt filled her eyes.

"I wasn't eavesdropping, I was just in the right place at the right time!" she wailed defensively.

"Lucky you…" Yusuke said sarcastically.

Botan grinned meekly and then pulled her sweetest cat face, raising one pawed hand in the air.

"Just like the maneki-neko," she said sweetly.

"We all know what curiosity did to the cat," Kurama bluntly reminded her. "And the rule applies to even the luckiest of cats."

Her cat ears wilted and her hand fell to her side.

"Stop pulling stupid faces and let's go," Yusuke said sternly.

Botan shook off her cat face and gave Kurama one last nervous grin before all three started to walk towards the gate leading out of the field. After a silent walk back to the Kuwabara house, they arrived to find Shizuru, Keiko and Koenma in the living room.

"Who did you meet in demon world?" Koenma asked as they entered the room.

"I'm great Koenma, thanks for asking," Yusuke sarcastically replied. "I especially love running around doing your stupid errands even though I'm not even working for spirit world any more…"

"We met with Iruka," Kurama said, watching Koenma carefully as he spoke.

"Why would you do that?" Koenma asked.

"Interesting that you recognise the name," Kurama replied.

Koenma tensed slightly.

"All the most notorious demons of demon world are well-known in spirit world," he recovered.

"Iruka is neither notorious nor well-known," Kurama returned. "You must know the names of many, many demons if your role requires you to know someone as insignificant as Iruka."

"The problem between the two factions of the cat demon tribe is a well-known one in spirit world," Koenma said.

"I wonder why that is," Kurama said.

"Isn't it because the rebel leader was a spy for spirit world?" Botan asked.

Koenma gave her a harsh look and she shrugged innocently.

"Why did you meet with one of the loyalists?" he asked, turning his attention back to Kurama.

"To find out why the rebels had come to this world," Kurama replied.

"But the asshole wasn't really in a helpful mood when we met him," Yusuke added. "All we found out was that all the pussies – the liars and the assholes – think there was some conspiracy about how the Raspberry Sundae girl died."

"Which side are the liars and which side are the assholes?" Shizuru asked.

"Who cares?" Yusuke groaned. "They're all liars and assholes."

"So basically you learned nothing," Koenma concluded.

"At least we're trying to do something," Yusuke complained.

"Well the good news is we made some progress this morning while you were gone."

Yusuke turned to Keiko, half expecting her to tell him she was making a joke.

"We took Botan's advice and we used the demon compass," she said instead. "We found several signals, but we couldn't get close to them."

"Why could you not get close?" Kurama asked. "What stopped you? Is there a barrier concealing the rebels' hideout?"

"No, we came to a dead end," Shizuru replied. "We got as far as the harbour – the place the cat demons asked Yukina to meet with them, strangely enough – and from there it looked like the signal was coming from the water."

"The ocean?" Kurama asked.

"Could the cat demons be hiding underwater in some kind of cave?" Keiko asked.

"Unlikely…" Kurama said, shaking his head.

"Yes, because cats hate water," Botan added.

The others all turned to her, giving her flat looks.

"It's true," she said.

"Moving on," Yusuke said, turning away from her again. "Maybe we could set them up. Since they want to meet with Yukina so badly, maybe we could take her to the harbour and get them to come to us – you know, what we were supposed to do in the first place before Hiei got himself caught and Yukina got herself operated on?"

"Maybe Yukina isn't well enough for that sort of excitement yet," Botan protested.

"She managed to come to demon world with me and Kurama yesterday," Yusuke pointed out. "Where is she now, anyway?"

"She's resting," Keiko said.

"Okay, well when she gets up, get her on it," Yusuke said.

"Shizuru worked out a plan for what we should do if we meet the cat demons at the harbour," Keiko offered.

"Wow, you guys really are the new spirit detective team, huh?" Yusuke said with a smile.

"I guess so," Keiko said.

"Yeah," Yusuke said. "You're the new me, leading the way and it's like Yukina's the new Hiei."

"There's a world of difference between Hiei and Yukina," Shizuru pointed out.

"Not really," Yusuke said. "They both ran off to do their own thing and they both have a creepy third eye now. Also they're both really short."

"So I guess that officially makes me the new Kuwabara," Shizuru said with a smile.

"Nah, you're more like the new Kurama," Yusuke said. "Because you're the sensible one who always plans ahead and says clever things none of the rest of us would have thought of. Botan's the new Kuwabara."

"Me?" Botan echoed.

"Yeah. You're loud, you're insecure and you're awkward. That's Kuwabara."

The others laughed and Botan pouted dejectedly.

"I was always helpful to you when you were spirit detective, Yusuke," she said sorrowfully.

"Yeah, sometimes you told me things or gave me things halfway through a mission," Yusuke replied. "Would've been nice to get the information and the tools upfront, but you came through for me eventually, I suppose."

"Do you have any spirit world items we could have?" Keiko asked Botan.

"I probably do," Botan replied, reaching up one sleeve.

"Why don't you go back to spirit world and get your suitcase of special spirit world items?" Koenma suggested.

"I have some up my sleeves," Botan replied.

"You keep special spirit world items up your sleeves?" Shizuru asked. "Even on that outfit?"

"I always keep things up my sleeves," Botan muttered as a pile of mejiru shiiru labels fell from her sleeve to the floor.

"We have more useful items back in spirit world," Koenma said.

"Yeah Botan, take the hint," Yusuke added.

Botan sighed and rolled her eyes before summoning her oar.

"I'll be back," she said.

"Don't hurry back," Koenma said.

Yusuke laughed as though the spirit world prince had made a joke, though Botan looked less than impressed as she left the room, her oar in hand.

"I'm gonna go see if Yukina's up yet," Yusuke said once she was gone. "The sooner she wakes up the sooner we can finally take some action to get rid of these stray cats…"

He left the room and the others continued idle conversation without him. He first checked the downstairs spare room Kurama had placed Yukina in after recovering her from demon world following her operation, but it was clear that she was no longer there and so he continued to the top floor of the house, knocking on doors and entering rooms as he tried to figure out which room was hers. Along the way he passed Shizuru's room, Mister Kuwabara's room, the bathroom, Kuwabara's old bedroom – which was unchanged from his high school days, even down to the Megallica posters littering the walls – before finally stepping into a small and neat bedroom, where it appeared Yukina was asleep in the bed.

"Yukina?" he said, edging closer to the bed. "Yo, are you awake?"

He reached out a hand and poked at what he hoped was her shoulder, but something seemed amiss as his finger pressed into the fabric of the bedsheets. He edged closer still and tensed before carefully peeling back the bedsheets, glancing over his shoulder before he began the task in case Keiko caught him in the act and accused him of leering at Yukina whilst she slept.

After a few cautious inches of movement, Yusuke yanked the sheets off the bed, revealing a giant blue teddy bear. He threw down the sheets and moved over to the window, looking outside for any sign of Yukina. In the time it took him to look for her, he considered what he ought to do next: he reasoned that he ought to go downstairs and tell the others, but since learning that Kurama had been hiding his knowledge of the rebel leader from him, Yusuke was not really sure that the fox demon could be trusted to stay in control if they confronted the other cat demons.

And, he thought to himself, he appeared to be the only person who understood the significance of why the signal on the demon compass led to Sarayashiki Harbour: the cats were obviously hiding on Ping Island.

After one last glance over his shoulder, Yusuke opened the window and leapt out, making his way to the ground where he snuck out the back gate and quickly took himself back to the abandoned field to meet up with Puu.


	8. Ping Island

**Chapter 8 – Ping Island**

Yusuke wondered why neither Keiko nor Shizuru had realised that the signal the demon compass was picking up was obviously emanating from Ping Island. He had thought that everybody in Sarayashiki knew about the little island: it had certainly been an influential place in his life. It had once been a very popular place, attracting tourists in the summer and locals in the winter. Despite being a small island, it was home to a luxury hotel that included a casino, a dance hall, a cinema, a swimming pool, a gym and a sauna, and there was a small collection of no more than twenty stone buildings beyond the hotel, including a grocery shop and some holiday rental properties. Yusuke's parents had been married at the Citron Hotel on Ping Island and they had taken him there for a holiday when he was five years old; of course, they had taken him off-season when the trip was cheaper, but it had been a memorable event nonetheless.

But Ping Island had been abandoned for close to fifteen years. A tsunami that had only caused minor damage to Sarayashiki Harbour had obliterated the little island, taking the roofs off of most of the little stone houses, tearing down the decorative trees that lined the hotel entrance and breaking almost every window in every building. When it was declared that the damage was too great to fix – and the loss of revenue from missing one holiday season had passed – the island quickly became a place anyone with access to a boat used as an illicit hang-out; Yusuke could still remember the first time he had snuck aboard a boat to visit the island for his first taste of alcohol and his first all-night party. He could not really remember how he had gotten back home afterwards and he spent the entirety of the next day feeling awful, but he still had a fondness for the place.

It was odd that the cat demons had managed to hide there without being caught.

Yusuke kept Puu up high as he neared the island, deciding to sweep over once from high above to see if he could see anything vital from the air. He did not expect to have any difficulty in a physical altercation with any of the cat demons, but he was wary of underestimating their trickery, especially as they had managed to capture and hold both Kuwabara and Hiei. As he passed over the island he saw movement in the gardens of the hotel complex that looked to be several bodies moving around. He continued on to the cliffs before bringing Puu around with the intention of aiming to land in the hotel gardens: but as the spirit beast swooped lower towards the island, Yusuke spotted a body sitting on the crumbling cliff rocks, seemingly tied up. He order Puu to land, shortly finding Hiei, looking oddly peaceful, his eyes closed and his hands, waist and ankles bound by some kind of plant.

Yusuke called out to him as he leapt from Puu, jumping over a few rocks to land on the large flat rock Hiei was sitting on. The plant holding him in place – and apparently keeping him in a state of unconsciousness – was attached to a sticky ball of eyes that were too focused on Hiei to notice Yusuke's approach. Yusuke decided that the key to freeing Hiei would be to destroy the eyes, and so he edged closer, readying himself to grab it and tear it to pieces in his hands.

An instant before his fingers reached their goal he felt the unsettling sensation of being watched. He looked up to see two identical black-haired girls with cat ears watching him from the top of the rock Hiei's back was resting against.

"Where did you little brats come from?" he asked, frowning at them curiously.

One of them held out her hands, revealing that she was holding a little piranha plant, cupped in her palms.

"That's cute," Yusuke said sarcastically. "But if you don't mind, I'm kinda busy here."

The girls smiled and Yusuke made to ask them why they thought his words were amusing, but before he could form the words the little plant spat at his face and a searing pain in his eyes had him staggering back and struggling to breathe. He quickly fought against it, managing to squint through burning, watery eyes to see the other girl throw a handful of petals at Puu. He turned to look up at Puu to gauge the spirit beast's reaction, watching as his eyes drifted shut and he fell – oddly gracefully – forwards. Yusuke had just enough time to let out a curse before his spirit beast's chest collided with him and flattened him against the rocks.

* * *

"They got Urameshi, no way!"

Kuwabara stood abruptly as the cat demons returned, two of them carrying Yusuke's limp form and the others dragging an unconscious Puu in a net.

"This is getting out of hand, we gotta fight back, even if they are girls!" Kuwabara declared, summoning his spirit sword.

"Wait!"

He paused as Yukina grabbed his arm with both hands, moving his eyes to the little ice maiden at his side.

"Kazuma, I have to ask you to do something very important," she said.

"I'd do anything for you my love, you know that," he replied without hesitation.

"I need you to make sure the cat demons stay distracted so that I can escape."

"I can do that. Are you gonna go get help? Do you have a way to get off the island?"

"I'm not leaving the island Kazuma, I'm leaving the living world."

Kuwabara turned more fully towards Yukina.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"I-I can't tell you," she said softly. "I'm so sorry Kazuma. I think I have a way to make all this stop, but I can't tell anyone what I'm about to do, not even you, because the cat demons could use their plants on you again and find out what I have planned. Please Kazuma, you must trust me."

Kuwabara nodded.

"You don't need to say another word, my love," he said. "I got you covered. I don't need explanations, just to know that you're my sweetheart and – oh, hey…"

Kuwabara lost his focus as Yukina stretched up onto her toes and kissed him on the cheek.

"Thank you," she said.

"N-no problem," he replied through a blush.

He watched her running away, at first in too much of a daze to consider the circumstances; but the sound of Puu waking up and squawking angrily quickly brought him back to focus and he turned his attention back to the cat demons, ensuring none of them would notice Yukina's departure.

* * *

Kurama stood up and straightened his tie, forcing a smile.

"I'm very sorry, but I really must go home," he said to his colleague. "I shouldn't really have come into the office today, but now that I'm finished, I really must go again."

"Thanks so much for coming in to help me out Shuichi," his colleague replied. "You're a real life-saver. If there's ever anything I can do for you, just let me know."

Kurama smiled and nodded, at first feeling vaguely amused by the man's offer: but, as he looked at his colleague's earnest face, a thought occurred to him.

"There is one thing you could do for me, actually," he said.

"Anything, buddy."

"Do you know if there are any islands or land masses or any large rocks at all off the coast from Sarayashiki Harbour?"

"The only island around here is Ping Island, but it's been abandoned for years. Kids go there sometimes to drink and party, there's an old casino still there, but the whole place is a wreck. A storm took it out years ago."

"I see. Thank you, you've been most helpful."

"Aw damn, is your little step-brother out there partying? Is he at that age already?"

Kurama smiled again.

"Something like that," he said.

He gave a single nod of his head and turned, quickly leaving the office. He was still dressed in his work clothing: his formal trousers, shirt and tie and he still had on his glasses, but he did not have the patience to change. Instead he got into his car and drove directly to the harbour, parking at the furthest point away from the commercial boats and quickly locating an unattended rowboat. He jumped into the boat and quickly took himself out of the harbour, aiming towards a distant blip on the horizon that he had previously thought was an offshore installation of some kind.

Although Kuwabara and Hiei had been caught off-guard approaching the cat demons alone, Kurama was confident that the same fate would not befall him, as he was all too familiar with their tricks and he had the expertise required to overcome them. He was also relatively confident that they would not dare attempt to engage him in battle, as Tora, their apparent new leader, had seen him in battle with Yasashi often enough to know that he out-classed every one of them even if they combined their powers and attacked him en masse.

However he suspected that the rebels were more interested in talking to him than fighting, especially as the notes they had left at the Kuwabara house had all clearly had the name "Yoko Kurama" written on them, scored through, and then over-written with the name "Yukina".

Kurama did sympathise with the rebels' cause, but he knew that the main reason he did not want them to come to harm was not because he was an avid supporter of their cause or because he feared the repercussions from bandits in demon world who would learn of losing some of the highest paying bounties around: rather he wanted the rebels to survive and succeed because that was what Yasashi had wanted. She had died for her belief in the rag-tag group of relatively insignificant cat demons that supported her, and – despite being famed for being too playful to be taken seriously – her sacrifice had given her life a level of nobility that only made Kurama admire her all the more.

Perhaps, he mused as he finally neared the small island, Yusuke was right after all. Perhaps his feelings for the rebel leader were deeper than mere curiosity.

Kurama paused, the small rowboat carrying him drifting onwards with the pull of the tide, his eyes scanning over the beach ahead. Ping Island really was a small and forgotten piece of land, but it was not the sight of a rusting taxi overturned on the beach or the bundle of damp and rotting papers by the sand dunes that bothered him: rather it was the vague sense of something ominous ahead. The little wooden rowboat clunked against a rock and he grabbed onto it, tying the boat in place and then jumping out. He had misjudged the water depth, as he found himself immersed up to his mid-thighs, but he continued on undaunted, wading his way to the shore, where he stopped again as he heard a faint squeal of alarm. He turned towards it, the sound of rustling plants and a snapping twig piquing his interest.

He started towards a cluster of what had once been a plantation of decorative trees, broken down by weather and overgrown with weeds and grasses with time. As he neared the plants he heard another, clearer scream and it was followed by a flash of colour somewhere deep within the trees and weeds. He crept towards the movement, shortly realising that it was a young girl, running blindly through the trees. She had a bloody gash down one side of her face and her clothing was torn on the same side, as though someone had swung a sword at her and dealt her a glancing blow.

She stopped the moment she noticed Kurama. The two stared at each other silently and curiously, the moment only ending when a second, identical girl joined the first one.

"Who did this to you?" Kurama asked the injured girl.

Both girls took a wary step back from him.

"I'm not here to hurt you," he assured them. "I'm an old friend. I want to help you."

"I bet you do. You always did."

Kurama looked up from the girls, watching as a scruffy weasel demon emerged from the trees, supporting a limp body over one shoulder. Kurama slowly stepped around the twin cat demons, placing himself between them and the approaching weasel demon.

"How did you get here?" Kurama asked.

He did not know the weasel demon's name, but he did recognise him as one of the henchmen Iruka had been accompanied by when they had met in demon world earlier that day.

"Seems like the rebels did us a favour when they incapacitated the head of the border patrol," he replied. "Because now getting through to this world is easy. And, best of all, all the rebels are on one tiny little island, ready for us to take back."

He threw down the body he had been carrying and as she landed on her back Kurama could not help but notice how alike the little girls she was. A vague memory of a raven-haired cat demon with two tiny identical babies flitted through his mind as he recalled the odd occasions he had met other members of the cat demon rebellion.

"That's a real cute human body you got yourself there," the weasel demon said with a snort. "Doesn't it kill you being trapped in there?"

"On the contrary," Kurama said calmly, sliding a rose from his hair. "This body is far less of a hindrance to my abilities than a fool like you would think."

With a single lash of his rose whip Kurama took the weasel from his feet. He quickly stored his weapon again and knelt down at the side of the fallen cat demon, discovering that she was barely still alive.

"It's not too late, I can save her," he told the girls.

They did not respond but also did not run away and so Kurama quickly began checking through the healing herbs he had at his disposal.

* * *

Botan, back in spirit world and once more back into her pink kimono, knocked on the door of the file room. When she received no reply, she opened the door and entered regardless, finding Koneko at her desk.

"Botan," the key keeper greeted her. "I didn't expect to see you again so soon."

"Give me the file," Botan replied.

"Which file do you require?" Koneko asked.

"Oh stop pretending you don't know what's really going on "Koneko"!" Botan snapped. "Give me the Raspberry Sundae file, or I will take it myself!"

"You need a key to access the files here."

"You need a key. I don't. I've worked as an assistant to the spirit detective. I have a spirit gun. It maybe isn't as powerful as others who have the ability, but I'll wager I can create a blast powerful enough to blow open the security box that file is kept in. Now are you going to give me the key, or am I going to have to make a mess of your pretty little file room?"

Koneko stood abruptly.

"You can't come in here threatening me like that!" she said.

"Give me the key," Botan insisted. "My friends are being held prisoner because of the contents of that file. You must give me the key!"

"I can't give you the key."

"Can't or won't?"

"I don't have the key to give to you."

"Oh I see."

Koneko nodded and sat back down at her desk.

"We're doing this the hard way," Botan added, before pointing her finger at the wall of security mailboxes.

She vaguely heard Koneko plead with her to stop before an almighty blast left the tip of her finger; she had apparently put a little too much effort into the attack as she was taken off her feet and thrown against the opposite wall. She quickly got up again though when she saw all the security doors pop open, diving at the one marked "Raspberry Sundae".

"It's empty," she said as she patted a hand around the hollow interior of the box. "It's empty! Where is the file?"

She looked back over her shoulder at Koneko, who looked worried.

"Where is it?" Botan demanded, retrieving her arm and standing up.

As she turned around, she saw Koneko flee the room, her long pink hair streaming out behind her as she left.

"Hey!" Botan yelled. "You get back here and answer me, young lady!"

She ran to the door and leaned out into the corridor beyond, gasping as she saw the key keeper darting around a corner and out of sight.

"My goodness that girl must have been a cheetah in a former life!" Botan muttered to herself as she summoned her oar.

As a rule, ferry girls were not permitted to fly their oars around the corridors of the temple, but this, she told herself, was an emergency.

* * *

At the sound of a knock on the front door, Koenma had to contain a groan of dread. He lifted his head and looked about himself, the sound seeming all the more ominous as another realisation occurred to him.

"Where is everybody?" he asked Keiko and Shizuru.

"Yukina is still upstairs resting," Keiko replied.

"Didn't Yusuke go to check on her over an hour ago?" Shizuru asked.

"Oh yeah…" Keiko said slowly. "Come to think of it, didn't Kurama say he was only going into the office for ten minutes? Shouldn't he have been back by now?"

"Aren't you more concerned about what your boyfriend's doing upstairs with my brother's girlfriend?" Shizuru asked.

"I am now!" Keiko yelped, leaping to her feet.

"Are either of you going to…" Koenma began, watching both girls hurry out of the room. "Answer the door…?"

When he heard two sets of footsteps hurrying up the stairs he hauled himself off the sofa and dragged his feet to the front door, almost already knowing that behind it he was going to find another note from the rebel cat demons, this time no doubt about Yusuke. With a sigh he opened the door, involuntarily letting out a cry of surprise when he found himself face-to-face with Captain Ootake of the SDF.

"Sir, it gives me no pleasure to do this, but I have to ask you to return to spirit world with me," the captain greeted him. "By order of your father."

"Is this about…?" Koenma asked faintly.

"Yes," Ootake replied.

Whether or not the soldier knew what Koenma had been about to ask was debateable, but it was clear to the prince that something serious was afoot in spirit world.

"I'll come with you, but can you please just allow me two minutes to do something first?" he asked.

Ootake looked incredibly suspicious upon hearing Koenma's request, but he nodded regardless.

"If you're not back out here after two minutes, I'm coming in," he warned.

"That's fair," Koenma sarcastically replied.

He closed the door and hurried back into the house, running up the stairs and almost running right into Keiko and Shizuru who had been about to descend the staircase again.

"Ladies, I need to make a little trip back to spirit world," he said.

"But Yusuke and Yukina are gone!" Keiko said. "Is this the cat demons again? When is this going to stop?"

"It's under control," Koenma lied. "I need the two of you to stay here until I get back. Can you do that? I won't be long, I promise."

"Can you get back to spirit world quickly?" Shizuru asked. "Because if not, I think we should go with you."

"Yes, we should all stay together!" Keiko agreed. "Otherwise the cat demons will get us too!"

Koenma held up his hands.

"Trust me, everything is fine," he said. "I just have to quickly go back to spirit world and it's safer if you wait here while I'm gone."

"You won't be long?" Keiko asked warily.

"I don't expect to be," Koenma replied.

"Maybe you should bring Botan back with you," Shizuru suggested. "We're running out of help and we could really use her here with us."

"…Botan went back to spirit world?" Koenma asked.

"You sent her back to get some special spirit world items to help us, remember?" Keiko replied.

"Right…"

Koenma nodded slowly.

"Well then the two of you should definitely just wait here for now," he concluded.

Keiko nodded; and although Shizuru looked less than convinced, Koenma trusted that they would do as he had asked. He turned and hurried back down the stairs and out the front door, quickly shutting it behind himself before Keiko or Shizuru caught sight of the SDF officer awaiting him.

* * *

Yukina began to grow increasingly panicked as she ran down the entrance hall of King Enma's temple and was met by chaotic disorder. She was aware that the ogres of spirit world were usually quite frenetic in their work, but they seemed to be especially frantic, as though they all already knew what was going on. She tried to stay focused as she ran on, not really sure where she was going; but luckily she did not have to run far before she found herself running towards a woman in a powder blue kimono with long, flowing pink hair.

"You!" Yukina said, stopping and holding out her arms at her sides to block the corridor.

The woman skidded to a halt and turned around.

"Botan!" Yukina cried as Botan appeared, zooming towards them on her oar. "Oh thank goodness!"

Botan leapt off her oar and stumbled awkwardly to a halt next to them.

"Why were you running away from me, Koneko?" Botan snapped at the pink-haired woman.

"I can't give you the file!" Koneko replied.

"That's not why you were running!" Botan said. "I know the truth. I know that you're really her."

"I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Oh come on now! You appeared here in spirit world just after the leader of the rebel cat demons disappeared and your job is to look after the file containing all the information on her!"

"That's not completely true! I look after all the secret files, not just the Raspberry Sundae one!"

"Nice try, but I've been doing a little detective work of my own, and although I've had my suspicions, it was all confirmed when I saw how Kurama reacted when he saw you!"

"What?" Yukina asked.

"Kurama is in love with her!" Botan replied, pointing at Koneko.

"No," Yukina said, shaking her head.

"Yes he is, I heard him telling Yusuke! I promised I wouldn't tell anyone, but this is an exceptional circumstance."

Yukina pulled a face at Botan.

"I'm not a blabbermouth!" Botan snapped.

"I never said that you were," Yukina pointed out. "But Botan, we don't have time to argue! We have to get out of here! It's too dangerous to stay!"

"What are you talking about Yukina?" Botan asked. "King Enma's temple is the safest place in all three worlds!"

"Not for us it's not," Yukina answered. "We have to leave."

Botan frowned.

"Please Botan, you must listen to me," Yukina insisted.

"Did you see a portent of doom with your jagan eye, Yukina?" Botan asked.

Yukina's face twisted but she quickly hid her reaction and covered her true feelings with a lie she knew would get the results she sought.

"Yes," she said. "I saw it all. You and I have to go to demon world."

"Demon world?" Botan echoed.

"Botan, please, we have to go!"

Botan looked less than pleased but she complied regardless and together all three girls started towards the entrance hall of the temple. As they started down the long, high-walled corridor, the double doors leading outside opened far ahead of them and five figures entered the temple.

"Is that Lord Koenma?" Botan said, squinting against the glaring light behind the figures that was casting their features into shadow.

"We should advance with caution," Koneko suggested.

"You've spent the last thirty years hiding with caution," Botan sneered at her. "My friends have all been through hell because of you, Missy!"

"Stop!" Yukina said, moving ahead of the other two and holding out her arms at her sides to stop them passing her.

All three girls watched as the door slowly swung shut, the light adjusting and the figures advancing towards them becoming more clearly visible: whereupon it appeared that Captain Ootake of the SDF was escorting Koenma inside, following by three other SDF officers. Koenma looked over at them blankly at first before a look of horror dawned on his face.

"What are you doing here?" he yelled at the girls. "Get out of here! Now!"

Captain Ootake nodded at his three officers, who all jogged down the corridor towards Yukina, Botan and Koneko.

"Get out of here!" Koenma yelled again. "Yukina, don't let this happen!"

Yukina gulped and stood tall, ready to defend Botan and Koneko by force: but one swipe to her mid-section from a spirit-energy charged arm of an SDF soldier took her off her feet and sent her flying into the wall. Botan called out to her before leaping in front of Koneko.

"Now just wait here!" she said. "I know this girl has caused us all a lot of bother, but that's no reason to arrest her or harm her! She was going to help us return the cat demons to demon world! You just needed to give us a little more time!"

"Sorry Botan, but your time's up," the officer replied.

"You wouldn't strike me…?" Botan said faintly as his hand began to glow with spirit energy again.

Yukina hauled herself to her feet but it quickly became apparent that she had neither the speed nor the strength to reach Botan and stop the SDF officer from attacking her and so, out of sheer frustration, she let out a cry of despair, inadvertently releasing a mass of demon energy. She closed her eyes as she cried, the feeling of the corridor freezing over proving to be a very calming and welcoming sensation to her.

When she opened her eyes again Koenma was lying on the floor, his pacifier fallen from his lips at his side, his body reverted back to his toddler form, all four SDF officers – including the captain – were as incapacitated as Koenma, a mass of powder blue and pink lay motionless next to a vicious blood stain; and standing in the middle of it all was a cat demon with long pink hair and intense blue eyes.

Yukina held her breath as she watched the rebel leader look herself over as though shocked to see her own true form. Her eyes moved from her own body to the fallen bodies around her before she finally looked directly at Yukina.

"What happened?" Yukina asked her.

She smiled.

"You got a lot more powerful, apparently," she said, waving a hand at the frosted floors and walls around them. "Who knew you had such ability?"

Yukina cautiously took a step forwards.

"I tried to stop it," she said.

"No, your timing was perfect," Yasashi replied. "I think the SDF were just about to throw me back into demon world, but I think I'm needed elsewhere."

Yukina moved closer to her, her eyes blurring with tears.

"Why so sad, little one?" Yasashi asked with a smile.

"Because I let you down!" Yukina replied pitifully. "You always helped me – you saved my life right before you yourself were killed – and this was the one time I could do something for you and I failed! I didn't want them to force you back into your own body and eject you from spirit world!"

Yasashi shook her head.

"It's fine, Yukina," she insisted.

"No it's not!" Yukina said.

"Yes, it really is," Yasashi said. "Now do you know where the rest of the rebels are?"

"Yes, they're in the living world, on an island near Sariyashiki city called Ping Island. They've taken Kazuma and Mister Hiei there, and when I left, they had just caught Yusuke too!"

"I see. I think I have a plan. Let's go."

Yasashi stepped over one of the fallen SDF officers and Yukina moved into the middle of the fallen bodies, stopping there to look around them all.

"What about these people?" she asked.

Yasashi looked back over her shoulder at the fallen spirit world natives.

"They will be fine," she said.

"Shouldn't we help them?" Yukina asked.

"No," Yasashi flatly replied. "The soldiers are trained to deal with this sort of thing and will be back on their feet in no time. As for Koenma and the girl, I'm still angry at them both for lying to me. If the SDF lock them up for a few days it's no more than they deserve."

"That seems harsh."

"I'll come back and plea Koenma's case, but first of all, I need to get my girls back. Are you coming with me or not?"

Yukina nodded and hurried over to Yasashi's side. Together they ran out the temple and towards a shimmering portal to the living world. As they neared it, Yukina slowed slightly, the idea occurring to her that she did not know where in the living world the portal would lead to; but before she could voice her concerns, Yasashi grabbed her hand and leapt through, dragging the cautious ice maiden with her.

On the other side, they found themselves high above Sarayashiki city and falling rapidly towards the ground. Yukina landed in a sakura tree, falling through branches until she finally reached the ground, whereupon she became buried in pale pink petals. She stood up and began picking petals from her hair whilst casting Yasashi a questioning look, as the cat demon had landed on the pavement completely unscathed.

"I'm a cat," Yasashi said, as though sensing Yukina's unspoken question. "I always land on my feet."

Yukina tilted her head, unsure if that was fact or another or the rebel leader's irreverent jokes.

"Do you think you could use your jagan eye to check the situation on Ping Island before we go there?" Yasashi asked.

"I don't know," Yukina said sadly. "It seems to have a mind of its own…"

Yasashi smiled and stepped forwards to stand directly in front of her.

"Then let's do it together," she said, plucking a sakura petal from the ice maiden's hair.

"How?" Yukina asked.

"Just trust me," Yasashi said, sounding far too casual for Yukina's liking.

She reached out her hands and began removing Yukina's bandana.

"Just relax," she said as she dropped the pink bandana to the ground. "And take my hands."

Yukina put her hands into Yasashi's outstretched hands, looking up at her warily.

"Now close your eyes, relax, and concentrate on Ping Island," Yasashi said.

"I don't want to hurt you," Yukina said meekly.

"Don't worry about that," Yasashi replied. "I'm a lot stronger in this body."

Yukina nodded and closed her eyes, trying her best to relax as she felt the third eye in her forehead opening. She felt the same sickening surge of energy through her body she had felt the last time the jagan eye had opened, an alien presence that made her feel as though she was being possessed by a much more powerful demon. She gripped onto Yasashi's hands and tried to keep her thoughts on Ping Island: and to her surprise, she started to see the island and everyone on it. She saw Hiei, still bound by the plant that had let Tora hypnotise him, she saw Puu, strapped down with vines, Yusuke was tied to one side of Puu and Kuwabara was tied to Puu's other side, both held in place by the same vines that were holding Puu. Unlike Hiei and Yusuke, Kuwabara was conscious, but he seemed unable to free himself. She wondered what he was looking at, and in response to her thought her view shifted to show the rebel cat demons fighting against a band of demons that easily outnumbered them two to one.

She opened her eyes with a small yelp as her body adjusted to the energy from her jagan eye fading.

"What did you see?" Yasashi asked, releasing Yukina's hands and crouching down to retrieve her bandana.

"A group of demons is attacking your friends," Yukina said. "There's too many of them, your friends can't overcome them and Kazuma, Mister Hiei, Yusuke and even Puu are all restrained."

Yasashi nodded.

"I feared as much," she said. "The SDF have never really cared for demon world problems and always look for a quick fix: when I saw they had gotten involved, I was sure they would allow Iruka and his crew passage to the living world because they knew he would remove my girls by one means or another. Iruka's men are not clever or exceptionally powerful, but they are very physically strong so we will need to plan our approach and we will need back-up."

"Kurama, Keiko and Shizuru should still be at Mister Kuwabara's house," Yukina offered.

Yasashi blinked, a slightly awkward look passing over her features.

"What will you do?" Yukina asked her.

"We," Yasashi corrected her. "We will go there and get as much help as we can muster and then we go to Ping Island."

She nodded and then started to walk down the street.

"It's this way," Yukina called after her.

"I knew that!" Yasashi said, spinning around and jogging back.


	9. Shuichi

**Chapter 9 – "Shuichi"**

Keiko turned to Shizuru, watching her exhale a swirl of smoke before letting out a small sigh herself.

"He's not coming back, is he?" she asked.

Shizuru moved her eyes to look at Keiko, keeping her head forward.

"Which one?" she asked with a dry smile.

"Koenma," Keiko said. "Or… Any of them. All of them. None of them are coming back, are they?"

"Doesn't look like it," Shizuru replied.

"What do you suppose happened to them?"

"I think Yusuke has probably repeated Hiei's mistake and Kurama has gone to help him. As for Koenma… Who knows? I think Yusuke might have been right that our friend from spirit world was hiding something and whatever it was has probably just come back to bite him in the ass."

"What should we do?"

Shizuru frowned slightly, reaching out one hand to close the kitchen window ahead of her whilst stubbing out her cigarette into an ashtray with her other hand.

"We should get ready to put our training into good use," she said darkly.

"What do you mean?" Keiko asked, trying to suppress the anxiety in her voice.

"I can feel a pretty powerful aura heading this way," Shizuru replied.

Keiko could not help but notice that Shizuru had turned a shade paler, which was never a good sign. Since she had begun her training with Kuroko, Shizuru had become considerably better as staying strong in the presence of dark auras, but the limits of her training had never been truly pushed, as she had only ever encountered the odd low-level demon Kuroko borrowed from demon world to test her. And likewise, Keiko thought with a gulp, she herself had only been involved in defensive sparring sessions against Kuroko's children and friendly, low-powered demons.

"Maybe Kurama will come back soon," she said faintly.

"I don't think so, kid," Shizuru said, retrieving a pair of chopsticks from a nearby jar. "Here's what we're gonna do: I'm gonna fight whatever it is and you need to watch carefully to see if you can spot any weaknesses, you got me?"

Keiko watched Shizuru wind her long hair around into a ball at the back of her head and then pin it in place by crossing the chopsticks through it.

"I can fight," Keiko said. "I-I don't really like to, but I can."

"We can't let this thing take both of us," Shizuru said, turning to look directly at Keiko. "If it takes me, you need to be fit enough to run away and get help."

Keiko gave a small, humourless laugh.

"Help from whom?" she asked. "There's nobody left to help us!"

Shizuru nodded.

"Still, we should be careful how we deal with this," she said.

"I'm ready," Keiko insisted.

She was not entirely sure that she was ready, but Shizuru, despite clearly being concerned herself, was also obviously ready to fight with all she had, and knowing that made Keiko feel more empowered. At the sound of a knock on the door Keiko's heart skipped a beat and Shizuru narrowed her eyes.

"If that's another note from the cat demons, they must be letting their guard down, because I could feel them approaching," she said.

When the sound of the front door opening followed Shizuru's words she and Keiko exchanged one last look of confusion before starting towards the door.

"Shizuru? Keiko? Kurama?"

"Yukina!" Keiko cried, breaking into a run.

The sound of the ice maiden's voice had been a sweet relief, but Keiko's reprieve was short-lived when she reached the hallway and found Yukina standing in front of a cat demon.

"You've got some nerve bringing your prisoners here," Shizuru said to the cat demon as she joined Keiko in the hall.

"No, wait!" Yukina quickly said, holding up her hands. "It's okay, she's not here to fight you or to take any prisoners! She's here to help us!"

Keiko studied the cat demon silently for a moment before sidling into the living room to retrieve the demon world wanted poster. She took it with her back to the hall, glancing back and forth between the picture on the poster and the demon before her. She then passed the poster to Shizuru, who seemed to relax slightly as she apparently came to the same conclusion as Keiko.

"So… Raspberry Sundae didn't really die?" Keiko asked Yukina.

"No," Yukina said, shaking her head. "Her real name is Yasashi and she can help us get our friends back and convince the other cat demons to leave the living world."

"What do you say, ladies?" Yasashi asked. "Are you ready for an adventure?"

"I wouldn't exactly call storming your friends' lair an adventure," Shizuru replied.

"Why do you need us?" Keiko asked. "And… How do we know we can trust you?"

"I need you because a band of bounty hunting demons have been allowed passage into this world and they are attacking my girls," the rebel leader explained. "And I suppose you don't know if you can trust me. You'll just have to decide whether or not you want to take a chance on me."

"Please, we have to go before all the rebels are killed!" Yukina added.

"Your rebels have caused us a lot of problems," Shizuru said. "And you're asking us now to help them?"

"Yes, I am," Yasashi said. "And I can see that idea doesn't appeal to you, so allow me to propose the offer from a different angle: come with me and rescue your friends and get the satisfaction of being the hero instead of the victim."

Keiko smiled in spite of herself.

"Tempting," Shizuru admitted. "And it would give me a chance to put this little bad boy to the test."

Keiko recoiled from Shizuru as she produced a set of brass knuckles from her pocket.

"Where did you get that?" she asked.

"Botan gave this to me," Shizuru replied, slipping her fingers into the holes. "When Kuroko started training us how to channel our spirit energy into a spiritually powerful object, I mentioned it to Botan and she got me this. She said she'd had it in her briefcase of spirit world items for a long time, but she'd never felt they were right for anyone. I guess she thought they were right for me though."

Shizuru curled her fingers over, closing her fist around the brass knuckles, which began to glow with spirit energy.

"Why didn't Botan give me a weapon?" Keiko asked.

"Do you need one?" Shizuru asked.

"Yes!" Keiko cried. "I only learned how to channel my spirit energy into organic spiritually powerful objects!"

"Oh, I can help you with that!"

Keiko and Shizuru both turned to Yasashi, finding her smiling brilliantly.

"I have just the thing for you!" she added. "But – do you have any string or yarn?"

Shizuru smirked.

"Why, because you're a cat?" she asked.

"I like you," Yasashi replied with a smile. "But no. I need string to make a weapon for Keiko."

Keiko looked up at Shizuru, who shrugged.

"I'll get some string," Shizuru said, before leaving the room.

"Bring it outside," Yasashi called after her.

Keiko hesitated before following after the cat demon and Yukina as they moved back outside to the small front garden. She arrived on the porch as Yasashi waved a hand over a patch of grass and then dropped to a crouch, touching a hand to the ground. Keiko yelped involuntarily as several shoots of bamboo burst out of the ground, each growing to eight feet in length in seconds. Yasashi stood up and turned her hand over, looking down at her palm as though confused.

"Are you okay?" Yukina asked her.

"It's still a little strange to have my powers back," she replied. "I was stuck in spirit world for so long and to suddenly now have my body and my powers returned to me…"

She slid one hand up the opposite sleeve, closing her fist around what she had retrieved briefly before opening it out again to reveal a blade of grass that look as strong and sharp as a carving knife. She then cut down five of the bamboo shoots, cutting them all to a certain length before turning to Shizuru, who had joined her in the garden with a ball of string. She took the string from Shizuru and wove it around the ends and the middle of the bundle of sticks and then took a moment to admire her handiwork.

"It's a kendo stick!" she said cheerfully, turning to Keiko.

"Isn't that like a training sword?" Keiko asked.

"Yes," Yasashi replied. "But the key to making a good one is to use the right thickness of bamboo, use five sticks to create a pentagon shape and tie them all together with a slight gap between them to reduce air resistance when you do this!"

She swung the stick swiftly through the air.

"Did you hear that whistling sound?" she asked Keiko. "That's the sound of a good beating stick!"

She held the stick out towards Keiko, who reluctantly accepted it. She eyed it over curiously at first before grasping it with both hands and focusing her energy into it the way Kuroko had taught her to. A faint glow illuminated the area around her hands briefly before fading away again.

"I don't know if I can handle a stick this big," she concluded.

"I won't tell Yusuke you said that," Shizuru muttered.

"What?" Keiko echoed.

"I said you'll be fine," Shizuru quickly lied. "Trust me, adrenaline will be on your side when we get there. Speaking of which, where are we going?"

"Ping Island," Yukina answered.

"Where?" Keiko echoed.

"We can explain on the way," Yasashi said. "We have to get going."

"We can take my car," Shizuru offered. "If we're going island hopping, I take it we need to get to the harbour?"

She led the way to her car, Keiko sitting into the front passenger seat and the two demons sitting in the back.

"So, um, Yasashi?" Keiko asked as Shizuru reversed out onto the street. "If you don't mind me asking, where have you been all this time?"

"In spirit world," Yasashi replied. "My soul was transferred into another body and I lived as a servant in spirit world."

"That must've been a real come-down after being an all-powerful leader of a rebellion in demon world," Shizuru commented.

"Did you ever try to escape spirit world before now?" Keiko asked.

"No," Yasashi replied. "I never had the opportunity to."

"Why not?" Keiko asked.

"I didn't know who I was," Yasashi replied. "The last thing I remember of my demon existence was falling down for dead during a battle."

"But you can remember what your life has been like in spirit world?" Shizuru asked.

"Yes… I remember everything now. Which is also quite odd, because now I have memories of two different lives in my head…"

"Koenma wiped your memories," Yukina told Yasashi. "I saw it in your file."

"My file?" Yasashi echoed.

"Yes, Koenma hid it, but I found it," Yukina explained. "It said that he was desperate to save your life, so he bargained with his father and instead of donating the land he promised to you and the rebels, they created a life for you in spirit world."

"Yes, I knew he had made the trade. I'm not too pleased about that, but as it's done there's nothing I can do to change it now. It does mean the rebellion will have to take a different direction."

As Shizuru parked at the harbour, Keiko looked back over her shoulder at Yasashi.

"What direction is that?" she asked.

"War," Yasashi replied before exiting the car.

Keiko turned to Shizuru with wide eyes.

"She means in demon world," Shizuru assured her. "She means the rebel cat demons are gonna go fight the loyalist cat demons head on: which is why we have to make sure they all leave our world as soon as possible."

Keiko felt less than convinced and still more than a little wary of the idea of teaming up with a demon whose followers had systematically taken every one of the former spirit detective team prisoner; but as Shizuru was confident, she decided not to question their actions. At the dock she watched Yasashi eye some boats critically before throwing something invisible out across the water. Something the size of a grain of rice disturbed the water surface and an instant later a giant, upturned leaf appeared. Yasashi leapt onto it and helped Yukina on behind her. Keiko turned to Shizuru for reassurance before acting.

"We've come this far," Shizuru whispered, before taking a running leap onto the leaf.

"Come on, Keiko!" Yukina called out.

"You better appreciate this, Yusuke Urameshi," Keiko muttered before running and jumping at the leaf.

She landed a little awkwardly but Shizuru caught her before she fell. She nodded in gratitude to Shizuru and then looked out across the water as the leaf began to float away from the harbour. She had no idea how the leaf was controlled or navigated, but it seemed to be heading towards a shape on the horizon and the others all seemed quite confident and so she allowed herself to relax.

"Anyone else hungry?"

Keiko started in amazement when she saw that Yasashi was looking around the others as though her question had been a serious one.

"Not especially," Shizuru said.

"It's a funny thing being a spirit," Yasashi said, sliding her hands over each other and producing a sharp blade of grass like she had done earlier to cut down the bamboo shoots. "You don't ever feel hungry when you're a spirit, because although you can still eat, you don't need to. Now on the other hand, us demons like to eat a lot."

She reached up one sleeve and retrieved the ball of string Shizuru had given her earlier and tied one end of it to the blade of grass.

"Did you give her that to keep?" Keiko whispered to Shizuru.

"No," Shizuru replied. "But I'm starting to think she really does like balls of string as much as a real cat."

Keiko watched in bemusement as Yasashi sharply threw the blade of grass into the water, waited a moment and then wound it back in with the ball of string. Keiko then balked as the cat demon hauled a fish out of the water and took a bite out of it without hesitation.

"Wow, she really is a demon," Keiko muttered.

"Do you reckon Yusuke acts like this when he's back home?" Shizuru asked.

Keiko shivered involuntarily.

"I hope not," she whispered. "And I hope we can trust her."

Shizuru nodded and Keiko thought that perhaps her friend had as many reservations as she did: but one glance at Yukina showed that the ice maiden did not share her concerns as she was smiling in admiration at Yasashi as she messily scoffed down the fish.

* * *

Kurama sat back hard against a nearby tree, trying to focus his eyes. The twin cat demon girls had finally moved, but only because their mother was back on her feet. She had not responded to his healing herbs and, driven by a compulsion he could not explain, he had resorted to donating his spirit energy to help the fallen cat demon. It had taken a substantial amount of effort to bring her back to full health and he found himself weakened from the effort; and he was not so sure that he could recover himself as quickly as he would have been able to had he been in his full demon form.

"Thank you," the cat demon said to him. "I don't often meet anyone who cares for me or my cause."

Kurama managed a smile.

"I care for your cause more than… I ought to," he said.

The cat demon started to tell him how glad she was that her children were alive but she stopped suddenly, her jaw dropping and her eyes locking onto something behind the tree Kurama was resting against. At first he thought she was watching the approach of more of Iruka's henchmen, but then he felt the aura of a demon far more powerful than even Iruka and he realised something else was afoot. He closed his eyes and inhaled slowly, the scent of peonies oddly strong in the air. He opened his eyes again and found himself looking at the last face he had expected to see on Ping Island.

"Keiko?" he said.

"Kurama!" Keiko said with a gasp. "When did you get here?

"When – and how – did you get here?" Kurama asked, ignoring Keiko's question to him. "It's not safe for you to be here."

"Doesn't look like it's too safe for you to be here," another familiar voice said. "You don't even look like you've got enough strength to stand up."

"Shizuru?"

Kurama started to wonder if he was dreaming.

"Where are the others?" another voice asked.

"Yukina?" Kurama said.

Shizuru and Yukina stepped into his line of sight, Shizuru smiling at him in an almost sympathetic manner and Yukina looking about as though she thought she might find Kuwabara or Hiei hidden under some of the weeds around them. And, just as Kurama was sure the moment could not get any more surreal, the cat demon he had saved dropped to her knees, her face even more shocked than before.

"My goodness, I can't believe how big your children have gotten!"

Kurama froze.

"They were alive thirty years ago?" Keiko asked.

"Demon children don't mature at the same rate as human children," Yukina replied.

"I'm so glad you're here, I need your help."

Kurama managed to turn his head enough to look up at the figure joining the others, still not really believing what appeared to be happening even when he could see it with his own eyes.

"I need you to release the hostages."

The cat demon on her knees nodded slowly.

"If all six of you work together, it should be easy."

Kurama blinked and squinted. If he was looking at a demon with the power of copy, it was an incredibly impressive likeness.

"Are you asking us to fight for your side?" Shizuru asked.

"No," Yasashi replied. "My girls will free the hostages, I just need the three of you to distract anyone who tries to stop them. Once your friends are free, you will be safe, none of Iruka's men would be brave enough – or even stupid enough – to challenge Yusuke, Kuwabara and Hiei."

"I can do that," Shizuru said with a nod.

Keiko tightened her hold of what looked like a kendo stick and nodded her head.

"What will you do?" Yukina asked Yasashi.

"I have to get this one back on his feet," the rebel leader replied, pointing at Kurama.

Kurama watched as the three dark-haired cat demons joined Keiko, Shizuru and Yukina and all six ran inwards towards the centre of the island. As they were disappearing from view an unforgettable face suddenly appeared directly in front of his.

"Well hello there, "Shuichi"."

Kurama paused. Yasashi was crouched over him, one foot either side of his legs and a mocking smirk on her face.

"I don't understand," he said.

"Oh, neither do I," she replied with a flippant wave of her hand. "But here I am. And there you are. "Shuichi"."

"…You don't have to say it like that."

"It was very sweet of you to help one of my girls the way you did. Is that sweetness a trait of the new, reformed Yoko or is that the influence of "Shuichi"?"

Kurama felt his face twist against his will as he once again noticed the way Yasashi scrunched up her nose when she spoke his human name.

"I still don't understand," he said, partly hoping to change the subject and partly hoping to make sense of what was happening. "I was reliably told you were killed by Iruka many years ago: how is it that you are still alive?"

"Oh dear, didn't your mother ever warn you about us cats?" she asked, looking quite serious despite the oddly jocular nature of her words. "We have nine lives."

Kurama's face dropped.

"Not even a smile?" she asked. "Oh well, at least "Shuichi" hasn't stolen your sense of humour… Or lack thereof…"

Kurama made to argue with her but stopped as she started opening buttons in the middle of his shirt.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Helping you," she plainly replied.

She stopped after opening the middle three buttons of his shirt, parting the fabric to slide her hands under it, her palms coming to rest against the bare skin of his chest underneath. Kurama watched her through perplexed eyes as she closed her eyes and he shortly felt the warming sensation of her spirit energy entering his being. He thought it odd that she was choosing to relinquish her strength to restore his, particularly when her fellow rebels were far more in need of her assistance, and he intended to question her on the matter. As she finished, her fingers sliding back out of his clothing and her eyes opening again, he looked directly at her with the intention of asking her why she had done what she had: but for some reason he could not explain, the question that left his lips was not quite the same as the one he had intended to ask.

"Did you really need to open my shirt to do that?"

"No," she said, her eyes sparkling with amusement. "But aren't you glad that I did?"

"I don't know where you've been these last thirty years, but neither the experience nor the time has changed you," Kurama said with a small smile.

"Would you want it any other way?"

"Where have you been?"

"I have a better question: why are your trousers so wet?"

Kurama looked down at himself in alarm, the moment of panic only passing when he realised that Yasashi was referring to the fact that his trousers were still wet from where he had jumped out of the little rowboat.

"I'm fine now, we should catch up to the others," he said as he lifted his eyes again.

"What's the deal with the glasses?" Yasashi asked as he met her eyes again. "Does Yoko need them, or are they just something "Shuichi" needs?"

Kurama started to move and Yasashi leapt to her feet, hopping back from him to allow him room to stand; and as he reached his feet he felt another pang of awkwardness.

"I see I'm shorter than you in this body," he muttered as he found that his eyes were level with the cat demon's lips.

"I wouldn't worry too much about that," she replied.

"No?"

"No. Your height in that body should be the least of your concerns."

"What?"

Yasashi shot him one last grin before spinning on her heels and running through the vegetation towards the centre of the island. After a moment of confusion, Kurama hurried after her, still in a daze as he tried to figure out how the rebel leader was still alive and where she had been since her alleged death.

* * *

Kuwabara strained against the vines holding him but still could not free himself. Behind him Puu was starting to stir, and behind Puu there was a battle ongoing, but he could not see any of it and he was growing anxious to be free. When he heard a groan he turned his head as far as he could to look back over his shoulder; and although he could only see a mound of blue feathers, he held his position.

"Urameshi!" he shouted.

"Kuwabara?" Yusuke's voice responded.

"Urameshi, what's going on?"

There was a brief pause before he heard Yusuke mutter out something indecipherable.

"C'mon, Urameshi!" Kuwabara moaned. "I'm stuck here, you gotta tell me what's happening!"

"Damn it Kuwabara, you don't wanna know what's happening right now!" Yusuke shouted back.

"Why?" Kuwabara asked. "What is happening?"

"We're being rescued by Keiko, your sister, Yukina and a pair of eight year old girls!"

"…What?"

Kuwabara sat still for a moment, torn between wondering why Yusuke would crack jokes at such a time and worrying that there may be an element of truth in what he was saying: especially since Keiko and his sister were apparently the new spirit detective team.

"It's those same little brats who squirted me in the eyes with their dumb little plant!" Yusuke said suddenly.

"…And they're helping Yukina, Keiko and Shizuru now?" Kuwabara asked.

"Damn it, I don't need this!" Yusuke complained. "Can't you cut through these plants with your sword, Kuwabara?"

"I can't get my hands free to summon my sword!" Kuwabara pointed out.

"Do you need to have your hands free to summon your sword?" Yusuke asked, his tone bordering on sarcasm. "Can't you still summon it anyway and use it to cut your own hands free?"

Kuwabara paused to consider what Yusuke had just said.

"Yes, the answer is yes, you clown."

Kuwabara's face dropped as Hiei stepped into his line of sight.

"Well what are you just standing there for, shorty?" Kuwabara snapped at him. "You could cut us free!"

Hiei looked down at his sword – which he was holding in one hand, his other hand was hidden in his pocket – and he appeared to think about what Kuwabara had just said.

"Hiei, is that you?" Yusuke called back over his shoulder. "If you're free, can you get us out of this damn plant?"

Hiei lifted his head and appeared to look at something by Puu's back end. Kuwabara followed his eyes, flinching as he caught sight of the mother of the twin cat demon girls running towards them.

"Quick, Urameshi, close your eyes!" he shouted, before doing the same himself.

Hiei muttered something inaudible that Kuwabara was sure was also highly derogatory, but he held his position, only relaxing when he felt the vines around him start to slither off of his body. He cautiously opened one eye to a squint, looking down to see that he was nearly freed. He opened the other eye and looked up, again finding himself looking directly at Hiei, who was giving him a very strange look.

"What are you staring at, hamster legs?" Kuwabara asked him.

"Another one of Koenma's massive errors of judgement," Hiei replied.

"…What?"

As Kuwabara waited for Hiei to offer him a less cryptic answer, he heard Yusuke standing up behind him.

"Hey you!" Yusuke shouted. "Cat bitch woman!"

The dark-haired cat demon who had freed them paused, looking over at Yusuke curiously.

"Are those little girls anything to do with you?" he asked her.

Kuwabara stood up and turned around to see that Yusuke was pointing at the twin cat demon girls; but more alarming than seeing the girls again was the visual confirmation he received that his girlfriend, his sister and his old school friend were indeed fighting the demons. As he panned across the battle scene, Kuwabara saw Yukina trip up a wolf demon with a sweeping kick and then freeze his face into a puddle, he saw his sister punch out a bear demon with a single, brutal upper-cut from her glowing right fist and he saw Keiko jab the end of a glowing stick into the gut of a bald-headed demon, causing him to double-over, whereupon she whacked him over the back of the head, sending him flying to the ground, face-first.

"They're my daughters," the cat demon said to Yusuke.

Kuwabara turned to the twin cat girls, even more surprised to see that they were disabling demon plants and acting as decoys to stop any of the demons launching sneak attacks on Yukina, Shizuru or Keiko; apparently they were helping, despite them having been willing participants in taking Hiei, Yusuke and even Kuwabara himself prisoner.

"Well they're a pair of little brats and you're a lousy mother!" Yusuke yelled.

Kuwabara turned to Hiei to gauge his reaction to the madness around them, but promptly wished he had not done so, as he found the fire demon still regarding him in a very strange manner.

"We never would have assaulted you had we realised you were allies of our leader," the cat demon said to Yusuke.

"Hey newsflash dumbass!" Yusuke snapped back. "We're not on anybody's side but our own and your leader is dead!"

Hiei's expression changed and, much to Kuwabara's relief, his gaze shifted to Yusuke.

"No, she's alive," the cat demon told Yusuke. "Koenma transferred her soul into the body of a spirit and he's been making her work for him these last thirty years, but now she has finally broken free and returned to us."

Yusuke turned to Kuwabara.

"Please tell me this bitch is talking out of her ass," he said flatly.

"Uh, not really," Kuwabara replied. "I think everything she just said is true. Yukina said it was."

"Yukina?" Yusuke echoed. "She told me she didn't know any more about this whole mess!"

"I dunno Urameshi, but the cat with the jagan eye told me their leader has been gaining power in spirit world, and I guess now she must be free."

"Do any of you have any wounds that need tending to?"

Yusuke rounded on the cat demon upon her question, glaring at her in a way that made her take a wary, shuddering step back from him.

"You gotta be kidding me!" he snapped at her. "First you send your kids to blind us, then you tie us up with creepy plants and now you're asking if you can help us?"

"I thought it was the least I could do since you have joined our cause against the loyalists," she replied.

She waved a hand at the battle scene and Yusuke glanced at the chaos as though he intended to turn back to her with another bitingly sarcastic retort: but when he saw a large, fanged and horned demon creeping up behind Keiko he darted off, reaching her an instant after Shizuru punched the demon in the gut and one of the little cat demon girls blinded him with her plant.

"Yusuke!" Keiko said as she noticed Yusuke standing in front of her. "What happened? How did you end up here?"

Yusuke looked around himself, his face twisting increasingly into a look of bewilderment. Kuwabara – having grown tired of the way Hiei was standing still and glaring at him – started to jog towards Yusuke, but he stopped as Yukina leapt into his path.

"Yukina!" he said cheerfully. "Your plan worked!"

She blinked at him and then shook her head.

"But… The cat demons are letting us go…" he said slowly.

"I failed," she said sadly. "But I need your help with something else now."

"You know I'd always do anything for you, my dearest," he replied.

"I need you to help me rescue Tora."

She pointed at something over his shoulder, but Kuwabara hesitated, taking a moment to register that the name "Tora" belonged to the short, rusty-haired cat demon with the jagan eye.

"Isn't Tora one of the bad guys?" he asked. "Or, um, I mean, bad ladies?"

"Kazuma, please!" Yukina said urgently. "Iruka will kill her if we don't do something quickly!"

"Iruka?" Yusuke echoed, turning around.

He looked first at Yukina and then up at where she was pointing, his eyes filled with even more rage than when he had been arguing with the cat demon who had freed him. At last overcome by curiosity, Kuwabara turned around, finding that two cat demons were struggling on the roof of a nearby building that had once been a grocery shop. A male cat demon – the first one Kuwabara had seen and apparently the only one on the island – was trying to push Tora into a demon plant that Kuwabara himself had chilling memories of.

"That's the sinning tree," Yusuke said, moving to stand alongside Kuwabara.

"Yeah, and that's the girl who started all this trouble," Kuwabara replied. "She's the one who showed up on my date with Yukina at the ice cream parlour and she tried to take Kurama's plant and she's the one who set all the rest of the cat demons against us because she was trying to get to Yukina, Kurama and Koenma."

"Yeah, but that guy holding her is a smug son of a bitch and I've been waiting for the chance to rearrange his face," Yusuke said before stomping off towards the old shop.

"It's so great you've all decided to join our cause!" a bloody-faced and spotty-legged cat demon said cheerfully as Kuwabara happened to glance her way.

"Come on Kazuma, we have to help."

"Whuh?" Kuwabara grunted as Yukina grabbed his sleeve and started running after Yusuke.

In his confusion he stumbled after her, one last glance over his shoulder showing that most of the fighting had died down; though he did see his sister give a roundhouse kick to one demon who tried to stand up. He and Yukina caught up to Yusuke as he snuck around the back of the grocery shop. Kuwabara started to whisper to Yusuke that they should plan their approach but he was cut off when Kurama appeared – seemingly from nowhere – and signalled for all three of them to stop and hold their position. Kuwabara watched the fox demon silently scale the wall of the shop as the sinning tree took hold of Tora's left leg and she began to struggle frantically, the male cat demon clearly greatly outmatching her in terms of strength as he was easily pushing her into the plant with just one hand.

Kuwabara flinched as a figure dressed in blue and white dropped onto the roof of the grocery store, landing in a graceful crouch. He recoiled slightly as the male cat demon staggered back, suddenly missing an arm. Turning his attention back to Tora, Kuwabara saw that the severed arm was still attached to her, the hand still gripped around her neck. Kurama leapt up onto the roof and dove at the base of the sinning tree, gripping his hands into its roots. The plant eased back, releasing its hold of Tora, who was tugging the severed arm from her neck in a blind panic.

"You!" the male cat demon said, staring at the figure in blue and white. "I don't believe it!"

"Pfft, don't give me that nonsense, Iruka!" she replied. "You can't go around hanging up wanted posters and then act surprised when you learn the girl in question is still alive!"

"I thought that… I thought you'd been changed…" he said weakly.

"I've changed my mind, if that's what you mean," she replied, pointing a blood-stained blade of grass at him. "I've decided that I'm not running away any more."

She grinned in a way that was far more chilling than friendly.

"Don't look so scared, Iruka," she said. "I'm not going to kill you. I need you alive because I need you to take a message back to your leader: tell him he has three days to vacate the hinterlands, or the rebels are coming to take it all by force."

"By force? I think living in spirit world has made you go even softer than before, Yasashi. Have you seen how many rebels are left? And two of them are children!"

"Take my message to your leader or I will cut another appendage from your body."

Iruka looked down at the stump that remained of his left arm.

"No Iruka," Yasashi said darkly. "Not an arm this time."

She lowered her blade, the tip coming dangerously close to his crotch.

"You wouldn't dare," he growled.

"Try me," she growled back.

He hesitated a little longer, but as Kurama stood up, the sinning tree banished, and helped Tora up at his side, he then looked about himself, seeming to realise that his men had all been incapacitated and that he stood alone. When he noticed Yusuke and Kuwabara watching him he began to look fearful and started backing away. He gave one last survey of his surroundings before leaping from the roof and running off into the trees. Yasashi watched him go before turning to Tora and grabbing her into an embrace. The other cat demons climbed up to join them – even the little girls – and their leader took it in turns to hug each of them.

"This sappy reunion is touching and all, but don't we still have a problem here?" Yusuke grumbled.

"Something's not right with Hiei," Kuwabara said, pointing over at Hiei.

Keiko, Shizuru and even Kurama had joined the others, but Hiei was still standing over by Puu, watching everything with a very odd look on his face.


	10. Enthralled

**Chapter 10 – Enthralled**

"Something's not right with Hiei," Kuwabara said, pointing over at Hiei.

"He's probably just pissed off because Kurama's girlfr–"

Yusuke stopped short as he caught Kurama glaring at him.

"Huh?" Kuwabara grunted, frowning at Yusuke expectantly.

"I said Hiei's probably just pissed off because Kurama and the girls had to rescue him," Yusuke quickly covered.

Hiei, as though he had heard what was being said about him despite him being well outwith earshot, started to walk over to join them and the cat demons began jumping down to the ground.

"Thank you so much for all your help," Yasashi said to Keiko and Shizuru.

"I don't know what came over me," Keiko replied, smiling through a slight blush. "I got really angry when I saw they had Yusuke tied up."

"I didn't mind beating down a few demons who were asking for it, but I hope you meant what you just said about returning to demon world with the rest of your team," Shizuru said.

Yasashi nodded and then turned to Yusuke, her face brightening.

"Yusuke!" she said.

He frowned at her.

"Do I know you?" he asked.

"And Kuwabara!" she said, turning to Kuwabara.

Kuwabara looked as confused as Yusuke.

"If everyone is done with the pleasantries, I have a very pressing question that demands an answer," Hiei said as he joined the group.

Yusuke started to jokingly ask him what he wanted to know, but his voice trailed off as Hiei slowly and purposefully walked through the others and stopped directly in front of Yasashi, glaring up at her through slightly narrowed eyes and drawn eyebrows.

"Hello Hiei," she said quietly.

"Why is it that when Koenma needed fighters to recover the makai whistle from the four saint beasts and he needed to assemble a team for the dark tournament that he did not release you to join the efforts?" Hiei asked.

Yasashi looked as surprised by his question as Yusuke and Kuwabara felt.

"Well, I, um," she began. "I didn't know who or what I really was back then and I suppose Koenma was trying to keep my identity hidden."

"Koenma had an A class demon at his disposal, so then why did he not send you to assist us?" Hiei pressed. "Why, instead of sending you, did he lumber us with Kuwabara?"

"Hey!" Kuwabara protested. "Shut-up, half-pint! I helped out plenty at Maze Castle and during the dark tournament!"

Hiei turned to give Kuwabara a slightly bored and slightly irritated look.

"And such a fine job you did at both tasks," he said sarcastically. "As I recall, one of the other four saint beasts had to dispose of Byakko after you failed to do so, and you let the elder Toguro live and he consequently teamed up with Sensui and caused us all a lot of unnecessary bother."

"Oh yeah?" Kuwabara argued. "Well I can remember that you only agreed to help out at Maze Castle to get out of spirit world prison and you behaved like a sulky little jerk the whole way through the dark tournament and Botan had to bribe you to help us with Genkai's ordeal and then you abandoned us right after because your ego couldn't handle hearing that you weren't as strong as you thought you were, B class!"

Hiei stiffened, his eyes flashing with rage.

"Come on you guys, this is getting old," Yusuke interjected.

"I'm so weary of the lunacy of spirit world," Hiei moaned.

"If you're mad at Koenma and spirit world, stop taking it out on me!" Kuwabara protested.

"Come on, seriously!" Yusuke said sternly. "Why can't we get along like they do?"

He pointed at Keiko, Shizuru and Yukina, who were all happily smiling at each other.

"New Yusuke, New Hiei and New Kurama are getting along just fine," he said.

"Probably because they don't have the burden of New Kuwabara holding them back…" Hiei muttered.

"Hey that's a good point!" Yusuke said over the top of Kuwabara throwing another insult at Hiei. "Where is New Kuwabara?"

"You mean Botan?" Keiko asked.

"Yeah, where did Botan get to?" Yusuke asked. "And, come to think of it, where's my favourite pre-schooler?"

"Koenma is in prison."

Yusuke paused, unsure that he had heard correctly.

"…Does New Hiei share Original Hiei's dark sense of humour or is that true?" he asked slowly.

"No, it's true," Yukina replied. "I think."

She turned towards the cat demons, who were all still falling over their reborn leader.

"So… Koenma got arrested for hiding the rebel leader?" Yusuke asked.

"I think so," Yukina said. "The SDF were leading him away. I think they took him because he was refusing to release Yasashi."

Yusuke screwed up his face.

"So this whole time that we've been running around taking orders from the little runt to get the cat demons out of the living world, he was sitting on the solution?" he asked.

"In a nutshell," Hiei said.

Yusuke turned his harsh glare to Hiei.

"If you knew that, you should have told us instead of running out here and getting yourself caught!" he pointed out.

"I didn't know Koenma was hiding that woman when I came here!" Hiei snapped back defensively. "All I knew was that the rebels were after Yukina!"

"It was still pretty dumb to come out here on your own like that," Yusuke replied.

"If it was so dumb Yusuke, why did you do the exact same thing?" Keiko cut in.

"Well because I…"

Yusuke started to trail off as Keiko, Shizuru and even Yukina all folded their arms and gave him an accusatory glare.

"Hey!" he protested. "Don't look at me like that, you did it too!"

He pointed at Yukina.

"We always intended to let Yukina come here and meet with the rebels," Shizuru pointed out. "Yeah, she shouldn't have gone on her own, but she had a solid reason to think they would back off if she spoke to them. What's your excuse?"

Yusuke looked around the others slowly.

"I didn't really have much choice in the matter," he argued. "The rest of my team had all got themselves kidnapped, I was the only one left to save them!"

Keiko and Shizuru gave him dark looks and he faltered, his anger fading.

"I guess I should have teamed up with the new spirit detective team," he admitted quietly.

He looked around the others again: Kuwabara looked exhausted, Yukina looked anxious, Shizuru and Keiko looked tired but pleased with themselves, Hiei still looked angry, the cat demons looked quite beaten and worn out, their leader looked contented and Kurama was watching her unblinkingly.

"So," he said. "What now? Are you catgirls all going back to fight Iruka?"

Yasashi looked over at Yusuke in a way that made him suspect the answer was no, despite everything that had just occurred.

"Iruka is not the leader of the loyalists," she said slowly.

"Jagasame is the leader of the loyalists," Tora added. "And he's way more powerful than Iruka."

"And he's supported by several others as strong as Iruka," Yasashi added.

"And several more of lower classes," Tora said.

"Tough battle then?" Yusuke asked.

Yasashi nodded, looking around the cat demons still clinging to her.

"We're few in number and we need time to recover and plan our next move," she concluded. "I gave Jagasame three days because we'll need at least that long to prepare."

Yusuke's face dropped.

"You want to stay here, in the living world, on this island, until the three days are up?" he asked flatly.

Yasashi flashed him a nervous grin.

"As a former employee of spirit world, I think it's only fair I warn you that if the SDF are involved in this – which they are – and they've already arrested Koenma, they'll come looking for you next," Yusuke told her.

She nodded.

"I'm prepared for that likelihood," she said.

"You'll just stay here on this island though, right?" Kuwabara asked.

"Of course," Yasashi replied.

"You won't come over and kidnap anybody else or cause us any more trouble, right?" he asked apprehensively.

"Oh sure," Tora said, narrowing her eyes at him. "Because you were such a model prisoner, we just can't wait to have you back…"

Kuwabara turned to look at Yukina worriedly.

"We came here looking for information," Tora added. "And got all the information we sought and we were reunited with our leader – which was a nice surprise."

"And…?" Yasashi said quietly, poking a finger in the side of Tora's head.

"And…" Tora began, looking up at her leader curiously.

"And I'm very…?" Yasashi whispered to her.

Tora frowned at her and she sighed before reaching an arm around Tora's neck and squeezing her cheeks between her thumb and fingers.

"And I'm very sorry for all the trouble I've caused you all," Yasashi said in her best impersonation of Tora, whilst squeezing at her friend's face to make it look as though her mouth was moving.

"I guess it's okay," Yusuke said.

"What?" Kuwabara echoed. "They terrorised Yukina and took me prisoner and you're saying it's okay?"

"If you'd spent any amount of time with that asshat Iruka, you'd understand why it's a good thing that a group of girls wanna kill him," Yusuke told him.

"Still, I don't like that they get to stay here for three more days," Kuwabara grumbled.

Yusuke made to tell Kuwabara to stop complaining, but as he did so, he noticed that Hiei was walking away from the group.

"Hey, Hiei!" he called after the fire demon. "Where are you going?"

"Anywhere but here," Hiei called back over his shoulder. "I've had my fill of this nonsense, so either someone dies or I leave."

"Fair enough," Yusuke said with a shrug. "He's probably got the right idea."

He looked around the others and found them all staring back at him with varying degrees of concern.

"I meant he was right about the going home part, not the killing someone part," he explained.

"Going home sounds good," Keiko said with a small smile. "I think that adrenaline rush you were talking about Shizuru has just passed, and I think I might be in a lot of pain…"

"I hear ya, kid," Shizuru said. "Yusuke, can Puu carry us all back?"

"Puu is not a damned taxi," Yusuke growled. "I'm so sick of you people thinking my spirit beast is a flying taxi!"

"I'm not swimming back," Kuwabara muttered.

"You don't have to," Kurama said. "I came here on a rowboat. It would easily carry four people back."

"Right," Yusuke said, looking over at Puu and finding Hiei standing beside the spirit beast expectantly. "Well I guess Hiei's coming with me and Puu. I can take one more person – Keiko, you wanna come with me?"

"Okay," she agreed, starting towards Yusuke. "Will it be alright…?"

She glanced nervously over at Hiei, who still looked as angry as before.

"I'll make him sit in the back," Yusuke said as they started towards Puu.

"The back?" Keiko echoed.

"He can sit on Puu's tail. It's okay, he's only small anyway…"

Kuwabara turned to Kurama expectantly.

"I secured a small wooden rowboat by the beach on the other side of the old hotel gardens," Kurama told him.

"Where?" Kuwabara asked.

Kurama looked mildly irritated, but the expression was fleeting.

"I'll show you," he said, his tone a little tighter than before.

He nodded at Shizuru and Yukina to follow and he led the way. Kuwabara and Shizuru followed after him, but Yukina hesitated, turning to the cat demons.

"We'll be fine," Yasashi assured her. "And thank you again for all your help."

"I just wish I could have done more," Yukina said sadly.

"It's alright," Yasashi insisted. "We couldn't run forever, now is just our time to stand and fight."

Yukina nodded.

"I'll come and see you before you go," she said.

"I'd like that," Yasashi replied.

Yukina waved to the cat demons and then hurried after the others. Once she was out of earshot, Tora turned to Yasashi.

"Really?" she asked.

Yasashi shook her head.

"We'll be gone before she comes back," she said, her eyes still on Yukina's back as she left. "I don't want her forming any ideas about joining us in this fight."

* * *

Kurama watched the side of Kuwabara's face expectantly, but Kuwabara kept his eyes forward, his face still twisted as though he had an unpleasant taste in his mouth.

"Why did you leave it all the way out there?" he eventually asked.

"That rock was a convenient point to secure the boat and apparently the tide has come in slightly since I left it there," Kurama replied.

Kuwabara turned to look at Kurama's feet, running his eyes up to the point on Kurama's trousers that indicated how deep the water had been when he had vacated the boat.

"Of course, being the gentleman that you are, dear brother, I trust you'll be carrying us out there," Shizuru said.

Kuwabara turned to her, scowling as she smiled at him.

"I'll carry Yukina, but you can make your own way out there," he said to her. "I saw you beating up those demon bandits back there, you don't need my help."

"But Kazuma, I was fighting the bandits too," Yukina innocently pointed out.

"But you're a lady, Yukina," Kuwabara said, gently scooping her up in his arms. "And you're not as tall as Shizuru, the water would be too deep for a little lady like you."

He started to walk into the ocean, grinning from ear to ear.

"Oh hey, by the way, um, why are you wearing that weird pink thing around your head?" he asked as he waded in past his knees.

"I have to wear a bandana now that I have a jagan eye."

Kuwabara almost dropped Yukina.

"So I guess you're not coming back with us," Shizuru said.

Kurama turned to her, surprised to see how sure she was of her words.

"No," he confirmed, turning his attention back to Kuwabara and Yukina. "I'm going to stay here and help the rebels prepare for the task that lies ahead of them."

"Right," Shizuru said.

"Their primary mode of battle is the employ of demon plants and as I have a long and varied experience of such tactics, there is much I can teach them," he added.

"Oh, you're staying here to teach them how to use their demon plants, right," Shizuru said, nodding her head. "That's a great idea, because obviously they need to be shown how to use those plants. I mean, it's not like they were able to use those plants to capture, hypnotise and hold my brother, Hiei and even Yusuke…"

Kurama moved his eyes to give Shizuru a questioning, sideward glare, and found her smiling at him in a way that made him feel far more nervous than he would ever admit to or openly show.

"You're staying here because the rebels need help with their battle plans," she said. "And not because you're enthralled by their leader…"

Kurama tensed.

"I see Botan has been keeping herself busy meddling in other people's affairs again," he said stiffly.

"Botan?" Shizuru echoed. "Not sure what you mean there. I was referring to the fact that you never took your eyes off of Yasashi the whole time we were all talking back there. I figured something was going on."

Kurama turned his head to look directly at her.

"Yasashi and I have a history," he said.

"Oh, I see," she said, her eyes widening slightly.

"Not like that," he quickly corrected her. "We often… Sparred together. I know her weaknesses and I know how I can help her."

To his alarm, Shizuru smiled at his words.

"Are you guys coming or not?" Kuwabara called over to them.

"Good luck, Kurama," Shizuru said before walking into the water.

He wanted to tell her that she was as bad as Botan for gossiping and interfering and that he only intended to stay on Ping Island during daylight hours for the next three days: but instead he silently watched her join Kuwabara and Yukina. As Kuwabara started to row them away, Yukina turned around and looked back at Kurama in an almost fearful way. He waved a hand at them and then turned around, hurrying back through the overgrown plantlife towards the remains of the hotel.

The rebels had moved to the hotel entrance, where they appeared to have quite efficiently split themselves into groups and set about tending to each other's wounds. Tora was the first to notice his approach, giving him a hard glare that told him her feelings for him were unchanged from the days when she had known him as Yoko Kurama.

"I thought you might come back," Yasashi said without looking up as he approached. "You know you didn't have to. I have this in hand."

She continued winding a leaf around a puncture wound on Tora's shin and Tora continued glaring up at Kurama from her position sitting against a pillar in the hotel doorway.

"Ordinarily I would agree with you, of course," he said to the back of Yasashi's head. "But you donated a significant amount of your energy to me. I don't understand why you did so: surely you must have known you would need your strength to help the rest of your allies?"

"Yes, that's true," she said, turning to look back over her shoulder at him. "But I also knew you'd come back and lend a hand with this part."

Kurama frowned.

"You just implied that you didn't need my help, so then why did you take the gamble of donating your energy to me?" he asked.

Yasashi smiled.

"I don't want you to feel obliged to help us," she explained. "You never were and just because we are in a more dire situation now and you feel a connection to me through spirit world, I don't want you to think that I expect you to help me. I never expected you to help me but that never stopped you before and, you know, you said the passage of time and a life in spirit world hasn't changed me, but the passage of time and a life in the human world hasn't changed you, Kurama."

Kurama smiled at the sound of his own name, drawing a snort of disgust from Tora. He and Yasashi turned to her and she rolled her eyes.

"I disagree, Yasashi," she said to her leader. "He's clearly been influenced by his human life. He's not what he used to be. He looks human, he sounds human and…"

She sniffed at the air, her scowl never faltering.

"He even smells human," she finished.

Yasashi secured the wrap around Tora's leg and stood up, turning to face Kurama fully.

"You do look, sound and smell human," she said quietly.

"My soul is in a human body, it's only to be expected," Kurama quietly replied. "But I can hardly be called human in the traditional sense."

Yasashi reached out a hand to Kurama's shoulder and he tensed slightly as she ran her fingers through the ends of his hair.

"You also feel human," she concluded.

"I don't taste human," he immediately replied.

"Ugh, I can't believe you just said that!" Tora groaned.

Yasashi turned to her as she started to stand up.

"There is still residual venom from the sinning tree in your leg, you should be resting!" Yasashi said sternly.

"I'll take my chances," Tora grumbled as she reached her feet.

"You could kill yourself," Yasashi admonished her.

"If I have to listen to another minute of this crap, I'll curl over and die anyway," Tora hissed back. "At least this way I die with dignity…"

She began hobbling off and Yasashi turned back to Kurama.

"She's a little darker than I remember her to be," she said quietly. "I think running the rebellion in my absence has taken its toll on her sense of humour."

"I'm sure that is true," Kurama replied. "But I think she also still hates me. She was never especially fond of me."

"I think she's just unsure because you're very…"

Yasashi slowly raked her eyes over Kurama, her eyebrows drawing together as she met his eyes again.

"It's probably mostly a visual thing," she concluded. "You're just not quite so… Visually intimidating in that form…"

"I consider that an advantage," he replied. "Plenty before Tora have made the mistake of assuming I am weak in this body."

"It's not that you look weak, it's just that you look kinda pathetic."

Kurama and Yasashi turned to the short cat demon with spotted legs who had issued the last remark, her expression suggesting that she thought her words had been somehow helpful.

"Like if I arrived at the scene of a battle, and everyone was down, and I saw you there, in that body, I would probably think you were the princess that needed rescuing," she added.

"Thank you Chita," Yasashi said to her dismissively.

"At least he was handsome when he was still Yoko…" Chita muttered as she moved on again.

Yasashi met Kurama's eyes again with a strained smile.

"It must be difficult for you to readjust to your demon life after so long in spirit world," he said.

"Yes, some things are quite daunting," she admitted. "But I think Chita did just sum up the visual problem with you quite nicely."

Kurama's face dropped and Yasashi grinned.

"You think I look like a princess in distress?" he asked.

"I didn't say that," she replied, before turning her back on him and starting towards one of her injured comrades.

Kurama adjusted his glasses and smoothed his shirt before following after her. As he caught up to her she was helping to secure a sling onto another cat demon.

"You only have nine allies left, and two of them are children," Kurama said as he joined her. "Given the number of allies you have lost since your departure, I would assume that those left have spent the majority of their time running and hiding, and spent very little time on battling or even training. You don't have long, but I believe I can teach those left a few things that may be helpful."

"You're not obliged to help us," Yasashi replied as she stood up again. "But if you choose to help us, I certainly won't refuse the offer."

"Then it's settled," Kurama said. "I need to go home before nightfall, but I can return here in the morning and we can begin training tomorrow: today is probably best spent tending to the wounded–"

Kurama stopped short as he noticed the suppressed smirk on Yasashi's face.

"Wow, you have a curfew?" another cat demon asked, sidling over to stand alongside the rebel leader. "That's so human…"

Kurama glowered at her and, unlike Tora, she seemed to have more respect for him in his human form as her eyes widened fearfully and she quickly left again.

"I have to get home before nightfall or my mother will worry," he said as he turned his attention back to Yasashi.

"You… Still live with your mother?" she asked.

"Yes."

"Is that… Normal for a human your age?"

Kurama felt that strange feeling he had often felt in Yasashi's presence when he had known her before her death: the sensation of being ridiculed and feeling defenceless against the attack and yet strangely unwilling to yield or retreat.

"My mother is the only reason I maintain my existence in the living world," he explained. "I could have returned to demon world and to my life as Yoko, but I made an unspoken promise that I would stay here and live as her son for the duration of her life."

"That's very sweet," Yasashi replied.

"She proved to me long ago that she was willing to die for me, I see this is as no small sacrifice to offer her in return," Kurama added.

"Oh, no, please, Kurama, I wasn't being facetious," Yasashi said. "I do understand how you feel."

"…You do?"

"Yes. I regret that Koenma did not fulfil his promise to give my girls a place to live, but I do appreciate the lengths to which he went to make a life for me in spirit world and I know he's only in prison now because of me: just before I was returned to my body I discovered that the spirit world file on my life was missing and Yukina said she had seen it, so I can only assume that Koenma removed it from the file room and tried to hide it. He was trying to protect me and he has sacrificed for me."

"Well he certainly did a fantastic job of concealing your true identity."

"…I'm not so sure I agree with you there, because when I think about it, I can see too many obvious indicators that would have allowed anyone looking for me to be able to find me, but I do know that Koenma has given a lot for me and I am aware that."

Kurama nodded before smiling wistfully.

"It's odd existing in another body," he said.

"Yes," she agreed with a nod of her head. "Although I had no idea I was not in my own body, so it wasn't so odd for me as it must be for you…"

She ran her eyes over him again and again he felt that strange desire to leave and yet need to stay.

"It's like I'm Superman."

Yasashi's face twisted.

"Right…" she said slowly. "Because you're a man and a demon, so you've dubbed yourself "Superman"?"

"No, not quite," he quickly corrected her. "I was trying to relate something to you that I thought you might appreciate: Superman is a comic book hero."

Yasashi's smirk returned.

"You read comic books?" she asked.

"No, they belong to my step-brother–"

"You're twenty-five years old, you live with your mother, you work with computers, you wear glasses and a tie, your name is Shuichi and you read comic books?"

"…You're missing the point."

"So are you. When I first met you, you had just taken out the leader of the wolf demon tribe, robbed him of his riches, Yomi was picking up the remainder of his treasures and you were standing in the middle of a scene of absolute chaos with not a hair out of place, watching your blood-sucking plant turn the wolf demon tribe leader into a raisin. You were an awesome and fearsome force and you were the most beautiful creature I had ever seen."

"I'm still that same demon."

"Not really. Now you're Shuichi, the bespeckled mummy's boy who goes to bed early and reads comic books."

"That's not accurate–"

"Shuichi is like the bucket of cold water somebody threw over me when I was thinking about Yoko."

Kurama flinched as he heard Tora snorting in amusement somewhere nearby.

"This is exactly my point," he recovered, moving a step closer to Yasashi. "In the story of Superman–"

"In the comic book story of Superman," Yasashi corrected him.

"Right, yes, well anyway, Superman's identity is a secret. He lives as a normal man called Clark Kent, but when he is needed, he transforms into Superman. And that is sometimes how I feel in this body."

"Does Clark Kent wear glasses and hand-stitched silk ties too?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, he does."

"I see."

"And there is a woman, her name is Lois Lane, who Clark Kent desires, but Lois only desires Superman."

Yasashi nodded slowly.

"I see," she said. "You're implying that Shuichi is Clark Kent, Yoko is Superman and I am Lois Lane?"

Kurama opened his mouth to respond, but found he was unable to be as direct about the situation as Yasashi was, and so he said no more.

"What sort of powers does Lois Lane have?" Yasashi asked.

"What?" Kurama echoed, completely bemused by her response.

"What sort of powers does Lois Lane have?" she asked again. "I'm trying to determine how accurate this comparison is…"

"Well, as a matter of fact, Lois Lane doesn't have any powers," Kurama replied. "She is just a normal human."

"Well that's not really an accurate likeness then, is it?"

Yasashi waved a hand at her body and stretched to her fullest height, leaving Kurama again painfully aware of how much taller than him she was.

"I didn't mean the likeness was exact," he said. "It was more the similarity of the situation–"

"What do you call the woman who is as powerful as Superman?"

"…What?"

"There must be a powerful woman in there too. What's her name?"

"Um… I suppose that would be Wonder Woman."

"Then I would be Wonder Woman in this analogy. And I suppose in my spirit form I would be Lois Lane."

"No… Lois Lane and Wonder Woman are not the same person like Clark Kent and Superman are–"

"I really don't think this comparison is accurate. It's also very complicated and not a lot of fun."

Kurama sighed lightly.

"I suppose not," he conceded.

"So then it's settled: you're Clark Kent and I'm Wonder Woman," Yasashi said. "Does Wonder Woman desire Clark Kent?"

"No, but she doesn't desire Superman, either."

"Then it's definitely settled."

Yasashi turned away and moved on again, leaving Kurama no more certain about what she was really thinking. He could feel Tora watching him and turned, expecting to find her laughing at him: but she looked pale and listless, a sign that the venom from the sinning tree was probably still too strong in her system. He started towards her and although she bared her teeth at him at first, she quickly gave in and let him tend to her wound.

* * *

Kurama took one last look over his shoulder before sighing and accepting that he would need to leave Ping Island. He had not been able to find Yasashi to tell her he was leaving, but he had assumed that she was busy helping her fellow rebels and so he had started towards the beach. With the rowboat he had used to reach the island gone, he reached into his hair with the intention of using a demon plant that could help him cross the water; but he stopped short, his fingers still in his hair, at the sound of movement behind him.

"You know I've never really understood why you keep seeds and a thorny rose in your hair."

Kurama smiled, his hand falling to his side again.

"Doesn't it give you knots?"

He turned his head to his side as Yasashi joined him.

"It's simply a useful, concealed, location," he said.

"That's what sleeves are for," she replied, reaching a hand up one sleeve.

She produced a ball of string, looking almost as surprised to see it as Kurama was.

"Oopsie," she said. "I guess I held onto this… Although I do like the way it feels against my claws…"

"Joking aside Yasashi, you will need something more substantial up your sleeve than a ball of string if you hope to make a stand against Jagasame," Kurama told her.

"I know that."

"I know Tora tells everyone you are stronger than the loyalist leader, but he is considerably older and more experienced in battle than you."

"I hear what you're saying, but I have no other choice. If we run, we will be picked off, one by one. At least if we fight we have a chance of gaining something. Do you know how difficult it's been for me these last thirty years in spirit world?"

"I can imagine you must have felt frustrated."

"Then you can imagine more than I can because I felt – and knew – nothing. I led all of those girls away from the tribe with the promise of a better life and I let them down. I have to do this."

"I understand."

"I know you do. Which is why it's so odd that you keep trying to make me second-guess myself."

"I just want you to be prepared for what you will face in demon world. I'm concerned that you've let the rush of power go to your head."

Yasashi glared at Kurama indignantly and he returned her look with a soft smile.

"I remember how I felt the first time I was returned to my demon body," he said. "I felt invincible, untouchable. That arrogance almost cost me my life when I let it carry me into battle in the final round of the dark tournament."

"Yes, that's true, you were arrogant during the dark tournament."

Kurama raised his eyebrows.

"What do you know of my experiences during the dark tournament?" he asked.

"I saw a recording of your battle against Ura Urashima, when he used that idunn box against you and his little plan back-fired," she replied.

"A recording?"

"Yes, I wasn't there in person that day, but Koenma had recordings of the entire tournament, so I was able to watch your efforts from that day. It's funny to think of it now… I never came into contact with the fruit of previous life in my time in spirit world, but now I wish I had."

"We might have crossed paths sooner if you had."

"There might not be so few of my girls left if I had."

Yasashi looked down at her feet, looking oddly serious.

"Listen, Kurama, I just want you to know that I appreciate what you have done here for me," she said carefully as she lifted her head again. "I appreciate what everyone did for me."

Kurama nodded and reached into his hair again, producing a seed. He threw it into the water and Yasashi smiled ruefully as it sprouted into a curved leaf.

"Yours looks so much better than mine did…" she muttered, as though talking to herself.

She caught Kurama watching her and quickly put on a cheerful face that he suspected was forced.

"Well, good night, Shuichi," she said.

He shook his head and leapt onto the leaf. He waited until he had drifted several feet away from the shore before calling out to Yasashi.

"I know you don't want my help," he said. "But I will return tomorrow morning and we will do this together."

"It's my fight!" she called back. "I've already lost so many people that I love, I don't want to lose any more! I appreciate what you've done, but you have no obligation to help me any further!"

"I will see you tomorrow morning," Kurama insisted.

"No," she said, shaking her head. "I'm taking the girls back to demon world tonight. I know places where we can… Hide until… Wait, what?"

Kurama smiled as the rebel leader's voice trailed off as she watched him slide a pink and cream peony out from his sleeve. She watched it for a long moment before clawing her hands up her sleeves and then yelping in a very feline fashion.

"How and when did you take that from me?" she yelled after him. "It's not polite to take a lady's weapon like that!"

"You'll get it back tomorrow morning," he shouted, before waving his last goodbye and turning away from the island.

Behind him he heard Yasashi continue to shout out after him, alternating between demanding he bring her raspberry sundae back and threatening to follow after him to retrieve it; and the last thing he clearly heard her say brought a smile to his face.

"You're only getting away with this because cats hate water!"

* * *

 **A/N:** Don't think I mentioned this yet, but I did most of my pre-planning for this fic whilst rewatching "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou", which will explain some of the below information:

Ping Island was a location in "The Life Aquatic", and there was an abandoned/ruined hotel called the Citron Hotel there, used as a hideout by the pirates  
Koneko means kitten  
Yasashi means friendly/benevolent  
Tora means tiger  
Chita means cheetah (seriously, it does)  
Iruka means dolphin (the dolphins were the ineffective scouts in "The Life Aquatic")  
Jaga means jaguar and Same means shark (the jaguar-shark was the hard-to-find bad guy in "The Life Aquatic")

Although this fic isn't based on the film "The Life Aquatic", there are some similar themes in there (if you've seen the movie, you might notice some of them, though they are not as obvious as the resemblances between "Politics and Polonecks" and "Twelfth Night").


	11. By Any Other Name

**Chapter 11 – By Any Other Name**

 _What's in a name? that which we call a rose  
By any other name would smell as sweet  
(Romeo & Juliet, Shakespeare)_

Kurama opened the front door to leave but stopped at the sound of his mother's voice calling for him. He turned to see her running towards him with a light waterproof coat in her hands.

"In case the weather turns," she said.

"I'll be fine," he said, holding up a hand to refuse her offer. "I drive most of the way and it isn't far from the car park to the office."

"In case you want to go out at lunchtime then," she insisted.

Kurama hesitated, Shiori's words bringing another thought to his mind.

"I may be late home again tonight," he said carefully.

"You've been working such long hours lately, Shuichi!" she replied, her face creasing with concern. "I hope you're not wearing yourself out!"

He made to answer her but stopped as she hurried off again. When she disappeared from sight altogether he lingered a moment longer before stepping out onto the porch.

"Take this jacket instead!"

Kurama stopped and turned again to find his mother hurrying towards him with his formal dinner jacket in her hands.

"That's not necessary," he assured her as she joined him on the porch. "And not really appropriate for the office."

She smiled slyly and Kurama began to grow concerned.

"A mother knows her son," she said in a tone he had never heard her use before. "Just because you're all grown up now, doesn't mean I don't still know exactly what you're up to. You never could hide anything from me."

Kurama tightened his hold on his briefcase, silently wondering if that was what his mother was referring to: it was stuffed to bursting point because he had packed a change of clothes, his collection of demon plant seeds and some bandages into it.

"I know you're not really "working late"," Shiori added, giving him a knowing look.

"Well, I…" he began, unsure how to respond; he never relished lying to his mother, even about matters relating to his demon identity.

"I think it's wonderful that you have a girlfriend."

"What?"

Kurama's head snapped up as he heard a snorting noise above his head and he caught sight of his step-brother ducking back through his open bedroom window.

"You're such a lovely young man, so handsome and kind, I'm just so happy that you've found yourself a nice young lady; I just hope she's worthy of you."

Kurama heard Kokoda laughing out loud in his bedroom.

"It's not like that mother, I assure you," he said, gently pushing away her offer of his dinner jacket.

"You look so fetching in this jacket," she said, pushing the jacket towards him again.

"I'm not going anywhere that would require me to dress so formally," he tried.

"Are you going to a movie?"

Kurama opened his mouth to reply but found himself suddenly racked with guilt: Shiori was smiling up at him with genuine hope. This was a side of his mother he had never seen before. It was not that she had never asked him about girls before – because she had done so almost every time he had been late home because of something related to his duties as part of the spirit detective team or in demon world – but it was the first time he had realised that she actually genuinely wanted him to have a girlfriend.

"Yes," he eventually answered.

"Is it a romantic movie?"

Kokoda laughed louder.

"Yes…?" Kurama faintly replied.

"Oh I see," Shiori said, nodding her head and finally lowering her arms, desisting from attempting to force the jacket onto him. "Well it sounds like it's getting serious."

"I… Um…"

"When can I meet her?"

Kurama froze as, unbidden, a vision flashed through his mind of him returning home that evening and walking into the living room as his mother was helping Kokoda with his studies and his step-father was doing a sudoku, with Yasashi at his side, her furry pink ears twitching and her slinky pink tail knocking over a vase.

"You could invite her over for dinner on Sunday!" Shiori said.

Her offer was horrifying to Kurama, but he was glad of the sound of her voice as it disrupted his thought process and brought him back to reality.

"I'm not sure about that," he said.

"Oh, alright then," Shiori said with a sigh. "I'm just so excited for you! My beautiful boy!"

She touched a hand to his face and he smiled awkwardly.

"Mother, please, you're embarrassing me," he said quietly.

"I'm just so happy for you!" Shiori replied, clutching his jacket to her chest and gazing up at him the same way she had when he had graduated from high school a year early and with the highest overall grade on record.

"Thank you," he said politely. "But I really must be on my way now."

"What's her name?"

"What?"

"Her name. What's her name, Shuichi?"

"Her name? It's, uh…"

Kurama felt as though a spell had been cast upon him as he was suddenly unable to think of a single female name to tell his mother as a lie. His eyes wandered across the front garden as he tried to find inspiration for a decent lie, all the while painfully aware that the longer he took to answer, the more obvious it would be that he was lying. His eyes passed and then returned to a plant he had recently bought and helped his mother plant in the garden and he blurted out the name of it.

"Raspberry Sundae."

"What?"

Kurama turned back to Shiori, the confused frown on her face making him realise how ridiculous his answer had sounded.

"I mean Botan."

"Botan? Like the flower?"

Shiori pointed at the flowerless peony, freshly planted by the edge of the garden. Kurama glanced over at it again, briefly wondering if it would ever recover from Tora tearing the flowerheads from it, before turning back to his mother and nodding.

"Yes," he said. "Botan like the peony rose."

"That's a lovely name," Shiori said, smiling her proud mother smile again.

"Okay," Kurama said. "I really must be on my way now. Please don't wait up for me. I'll see you in the morning."

"Have fun on your date."

Kurama nodded and started down the porch steps. As he crossed the garden path towards his car, from the corner of his eye he saw his step-brother lean out of his bedroom window again. He glanced up at him as he opened the car door and promptly wished he had not done so, as he began singing "Shuichi and Botan up a tree". Kurama sighed, throwing his briefcase across to the passenger seat and climbing into the car. He gave one last wave to his mother before he pulled out of the driveway and started the journey towards the harbour. As he left the street, he got an odd sense that he had forgotten or missed something; he looked down at his briefcase, wondering if he had forgotten to pack something he might need, but quickly realising that he could not practically have stuffed anything else into it.

He shook off the thought and continued to the harbour, parking up and walking to the highest point on the cliffs beyond the docks. He had discovered the day before that sailing was quite a slow means of travelling to and from Ping Island, and so, in order to maximise the amount of time he could spend there, he chose to travel back there by a different means. He touched a hand to the back of his neck, transferring some of his energy into a specific seed he had stored in his hair. As he felt it start to grow he tightened his hold on his briefcase and then took a running jump off the cliff. At first he fell, before the plant took shape behind him, forming butterfly-like wings that caught an updraft of air, lifting him up and out over the water. As he had suspected, flying was a far more efficient means of travel, as he reached the island in less than two minutes; but as he neared the shoreline, something large shot into the air at his side, creating a Jetstream that tore mercilessly through the leaves of Kurama's makeshift wings.

As he spiralled out of control and began plummeting towards the ground, Kurama caught a glimpse of what had launched from the island, his pending predicament momentarily forgotten as he saw the twin cat girls squealing with delight on the back of Yusuke's flying spirit beast.

"Got ya!"

Kurama closed his eyes briefly, using the moment to try to suppress how humiliating it was to be caught in the arms of a woman.

"I got your handbag."

Kurama slowly opened his eyes, finding himself cradled in the arms of the short but muscular cat demon with spotted legs, who was grinning at him far too cheerfully.

"Do I get a prize for rescuing the princess?" she asked him.

"Please put me down, Chita," he flatly replied.

She did as he asked and Tora limped forward, holding out his briefcase towards him.

"Your handbag, Milady," she said, curtseying as he took back his briefcase.

"You seem to be recovering well," he replied, hoping to distract her from what had just happened.

"Yeah, I'm a fast healer," she said, the slight twitch of her head suggesting she was too proud to admit that her recovery was primarily thanks to Kurama's assistance the day before.

"I didn't know you could use the floating leaf to fly," Chita said, tugging at the remains of the plant still attached to Kurama's back. "Seems a bit fragile, seeing as how you just fell, but it's still a pretty neat idea. Can you show me how to do that?"

Kurama smiled and nodded.

"Gladly, yes," he said. "But first I'd like you to help me with something."

"Sure, what is it?" Chita asked.

"Can you tell me why Yusuke's spirit beast is here?" he asked, pointing up at Puu, who was looping through the air and crying out along with the girls clinging to his back.

"Your friends used that thing to get here this morning," Tora replied.

Kurama turned to her, hoping that she would tell him she was just making another of her overly sarcastic and highly inappropriate jokes at his expense.

"Yasashi isn't too pleased about it either," she said instead, the darkness of her expression telling him she was serious.

Kurama nodded and tore the remainder of the floating leaf from his back before starting towards the hotel entrance. As he neared his destination, he saw that, with the exception of Tora – whose left leg was still in bandages and bothering her from the damage done by the sinning tree – the rebels were all fully recovered and back on their feet. They were all milling about, but they were mostly playing rather than training, which was what he felt they really ought to be concentrating their efforts on. Some of them were making clothes, some were eating, some were just sitting talking amongst themselves and Chita had just joined Yusuke in a competition to see who could squeeze the most juice out of a watermelon.

"Yusuke!" Kurama blurted out as he neared the Mazoku. "What are you doing here?"

"Not now, fox boy!" Yusuke replied, glaring at Chita as he compressed the watermelon between his hands. "I'm winning this!"

"In your dreams!" Chita scoffed.

"Watch me, spotty!"

Kurama sighed, placing his briefcase down on the frame of what had once been a water fountain. As he waited for Yusuke to finish his pointless endeavour, he noticed that the group of cat demons sitting in a circle chatting were sitting around an actual cat: a tri-colour, very familiar, cat.

"Kuwabara?" Kurama said as he noticed that one of the cat demons in the circle was in fact a red-haired human man.

"I know right?" Yusuke snorted.

Kurama turned his attention back to Yusuke, who was still straining with the watermelon task.

"He insisted on bringing his cat," Yusuke explained. "He said she'd been off her food lately and he thought the cat demons could give him some advice on how to get her to eat again."

"Yusuke, that's absurd," Kurama said sternly.

"I know!" Yusuke agreed. "I told him that! I said "hey, Kuwabara, they're demons, not frigging vets"! But he didn't listen!"

Kurama sighed patiently, looking around the hotel itself and then noticing two figures having a heated conversation on the balcony over the hotel entrance. Realising that Yusuke was in no hurry to give him any substantial answers and already knowing that Kuwabara would not be any more helpful, he grabbed up his briefcase and leapt up to the balcony with the aid of a hollow window-frame halfway up the wall. As he landed on the balcony he was at first surprised by the way he was greeted.

"Oh Kurama, thank goodness you're here!" Yasashi said, walking over to him and putting her hands on his shoulders.

"It's nice to see you again too, Yasashi," he said, suppressing a smile.

"Now that you're here, you can help me talk some sense into this girl!"

Kurama felt something sink in his chest but he ignored it when he realised that Yasashi was indicating Yukina.

"What are you doing here, Yukina?" he asked her.

"I want to help Yasashi," she replied, looking alarmingly like her brother as she took on a look of stubborn determination.

"And I've already told her it's too dangerous!" Yasashi added.

"Are you the reason Yusuke and Kuwabara are here?" Kurama asked Yukina.

"No," she replied. "Well… I didn't ask them to come with me. I only asked Yusuke if I could borrow Puu to come here and when I told him I was coming here, he insisted on coming with me. And then Kazuma found out and he said he wanted to come too because he was worried about me."

"Kuwabara came here because he wanted to ask me if I prefer cod or halibut when I'm moulting!"

Kurama stiffened at Yasashi's outburst.

"Is that a joke?" he asked her quietly. "Your humour is so off-key sometimes I can't always tell when you're being serious."

"Kuwabara thinks I am the same as his pet cat Eikichi," she flatly replied.

Kurama swallowed and nodded his head quickly.

"Yes, I did notice he brought the cat with him," he said.

Yasashi looked over at Yukina and forced a smile.

"Sweetie, would you do me a favour and tell Kuwabara to keep an eye on his cat, in case she wanders off?" she said. "There are a few concealed pot-holes and piles of broken glass amongst the grass, I wouldn't want the little dear to get hurt or lost."

"Oh, of course!" Yukina said.

She hurried back into the hotel, leaving Kurama and Yasashi alone on the balcony.

"You have to get rid of them."

"What?"

Yasashi gripped her hands tighter into Kurama's shoulders.

"You have to make Yukina, Yusuke and Kuwabara – and the cat and the bird – leave," she said firmly. "Yukina has told me she wants to come back to demon world with us to join the fight against the loyalists. I can't let that happen."

"Why not?"

Yasashi's fingers opened out, her hands resting on his shoulders and her eyes doubled in size.

"Isn't it obvious why not?" she asked. "No outsiders get involved in our battle, that's always been the way of it! It's far too dangerous!"

"I think you need all the help you can get," Kurama replied. "And I'm in no position to criticise anyone else for joining your cause despite knowing the risks involved, because I fully intend to return to demon world with you."

Yasashi snatched her hands back from his shoulders.

"I can't let you do that either," she said quietly.

"And neither can you stop me," he pointed out.

"There is an unspoken rule in demon world that no outsiders get involved in the fight between the rebels and the loyalists," she said carefully. "The consequences could be dire: and I know you understand that better than anyone."

"I do understand it completely," Kurama assured her. "Yet I still intend to join you. If you are concerned about Yukina, the best I can offer to do is to help explain to her the risks involved, but I cannot conscionably advise her against assisting you."

Yasashi folded her arms and glowered at him.

"I understand your frustration, but you must understand why Yukina feels obliged to help you," he said. "When she admitted to knowing you, she spoke very fondly of you."

"She's volunteering for all the wrong reasons," Yasashi said, shaking her head. "She feels guilty, she feels indebted to me because Iruka and his men attacked me when I was escorting her back from the living world. I pushed her back through the portal because I knew they would take her for her tears, but I think she feels she could have helped me that day. I think she thinks they only attacked me because she was with me, or that I put myself into their path by going to meet her. She's wrongly blaming herself for what happened to me. I don't want anyone getting involved in this fight because of me. If anyone wants to help out because they believe in our cause then I can accept that, but I don't want anyone making this personal and letting any feelings they might have get in the way of good judgement!"

"…Are we still talking about Yukina?"

Yasashi chewed at her lip and frowned.

"I see," Kurama said. "You're telling me I'm not welcome to join your fight either."

"Not if you're only doing so because of your feelings for me."

"Maybe I do believe in your cause."

"You never cared for the cause before you met me."

"That's true, but I never really understood it before I met you."

"You never cared for the cause after you met me."

"Things have changed. Your situation has changed. My opinions have changed."

"You've changed."

"Yes, I have."

"Shuichi."

Kurama narrowed his eyes.

"That isn't funny, Yasashi," he said.

"No, it's not, I agree," she replied. "You have a life here and commitments here as Shuichi. My problems were never yours and as much as I appreciate that you want to help us, I must refuse."

"You know that what is left of your followers is not enough in either number or strength to have any chance of survival in a head-on battle against the might of the loyalists."

"Yes, I do know that. I don't expect to come out of this alive, which is why I don't want anyone else risking their life."

"If you know you are out-matched, shouldn't you be accepting any offers of help?"

"No. I don't want you or Yukina to get hurt."

"So that's a decision you've reached based on your feelings for me and Yukina, not on the interests of your cause."

Yasashi paused, clearly taken aback by Kurama's response.

"As the leader of this movement, you must do what is best for your followers," he continued. "And the best thing you can do for them right now is to make sure they as prepared as possible and as strong as possible: and that means accepting the help that's being offered to you."

Yasashi pouted and her shoulders slumped forwards.

"I knew I shouldn't have let you talk so long," she muttered.

"Why not?" he asked.

"Because I knew you'd use your infallible logic to make me agree to something illogical!" she snapped back.

"You're welcome."

Kurama smiled but Yasashi pouted again.

"I brought a change of clothes and some seeds you may or may not be familiar with," he said, indicating his briefcase.

"Oh good," Yasashi said, brightening a little. "It would be helpful if the girls could learn about some new demon plants. And does the change of clothes help you transform from Shuichi into Yoko?"

She flicked a finger at Kurama's tie and he smiled tightly.

"Only if I put them on in a telephone booth," he said.

"What?"

"Nothing. I'll get changed, can you gather everyone together?"

* * *

Kurama smiled and politely accepted Yukina's offer of food: it was late afternoon and he had spent the entirety of the day assessing what the strengths and weaknesses of the rebels were and assigning them seeds accordingly. He had successfully worked with six of the ten cat demons, but the remaining four would prove more difficult, and is in his moment of hesitation, Yukina had brought him some freshly roasted fish on a leaf and the offer had reminded him how hungry he was.

"This is fun, right?"

Kurama turned his head as Yusuke sat down next to him on the wall of the sunken garden.

"Far from it, Yusuke," he solemnly replied.

"Yeah, they're gonna get creamed when they go to demon world," Yusuke said before stabbing a small sharp stick into part of Kurama's fish and taking it for himself.

"Yes, they won't last long," Kurama agreed. "Which is why no part of what we are doing here today can be described as "fun"."

"Relax old man, I've got a plan," Yusuke said through a mouthful of food.

"Yasashi is adamant that she doesn't want us joining her fight," Kurama warned him. "And I'm surprised that you would want to, after all the bother her followers have caused us of late."

"I'm not doing this for Raspberry Cheesecake or any of her freaky friends."

"Sundae. It's Raspberry Sundae."

"I'm doing this because she's your girlfriend and you've always been cool about helping Keiko out with anything."

Kurama watched Yusuke help himself to another piece of the meal he himself was yet to touch. Yukina had cut the fish in half lengthways and then made several horizontal cuts to create convenient little cubes, which was making Yusuke's thievery all the more efficient.

"Yusuke, do you remember what Hiei and I told you at the start of this little debacle?" he asked.

"Sure," Yusuke replied, accidentally spitting a flake of fish onto Kurama's knee. "You said these loyalist bastards are all B Class. That's a big deal for the rebels here, but not really for you and me, right?"

Kurama moved his fish out of Yusuke's reach as he made to take another piece.

"Yes, I did say the loyalists are mostly of the B Class rating," he said. "The tribe leader, Jagasame, is an A Class demon. Iruka is – or rather always was – the second strongest of the tribe. There will be some lower level cat demons to contend with too, but it's not the power differences I was referring to. I was asking if you remember Hiei and me telling you about why nobody else in demon world gets involved in the cat demon war."

Yusuke tried one last time to steal a piece of Kurama's food before throwing away his stealing stick and looking thoughtful.

"Something about the bounty hunters, I think," he concluded.

"Yes, exactly," Kurama said. "As soon as the rebels return, en masse, to demon world, every bounty hunter, bandit, loyalist and general opportunist in demon world will start hunting them. They will kill anyone who stands in their way: and that includes you if you take part in this."

"Hey, it's not like I've not been the under-dog before," Yusuke pointed out. "And besides, I'm stronger than anyone who's gonna come after us and I'm in a position of power in demon world, so a lot of these "opportunists" won't dare touch me."

"Which brings us nicely to the next problem: you are something of a political figurehead in demon world, you can't be seen to take a side in this. It's not even happening on your territory, which makes it even less of your concern. The other leaders might not appreciate what you are doing: I know Yomi certainly won't."

"This "Hinterlands" place Raspberry Squash was talking about is in Yomi's territory?"

"…Raspberry Sundae…"

"I know. It just cracks me up the way it actually pisses you off when I get it wrong."

"I see. And no. The cat demon's domain isn't in Yomi's territory, it's in Mukuro's territory."

Yusuke looked down at the fish still resting on Kurama's knees and the fox demon quickly grabbed up a cube and began eating.

"Didn't think you were ever gonna eat that…" Yusuke muttered. "But if the cat demon's land is in Mukuro's territory, isn't the solution really simple?"

Kurama gave Yusuke a questioning look, his mouth too full of food to voice his concerns; but thankfully Yusuke seemed to understand as he elaborated without a verbal prompt.

"We just need to get Hiei involved. Everybody in Mukuro's territory knows who he is and how important he is there so nobody – none of those bandits or whoever – will interfere. It'll just be you, me, Hiei, Yukina and the rebels against the loyalists."

Kurama raised his eyebrows.

"Probably also Kuwabara," Yusuke added. "I don't think he'll let Yukina go out to fight without wanting to be there too."

Kurama lowered his eyebrows into a frown.

"Don't worry: I'll make sure he leaves his cat at home this time," Yusuke said.

Kurama swallowed the contents of his mouth and folded the leaf over the rest of his meal to prevent Yusuke from taking any more while he spoke.

"Where is Hiei?" he asked as the thought occurred to him that he had not seen Hiei since the fire demon had left Ping Island the night before.

"Back in demon world, I suppose," Yusuke said with a shrug. "We can always find him when we need him. And you know if we go to demon world with the rebels, he'll show."

"I'm not so sure about that," Kurama said. "He's still nursing a wounded ego after the rebels slipped past his patrol and then took him prisoner."

"Is that what's bothering him?"

"Absolutely."

Kurama began eating again, but promptly wished he had not as he almost choked on his food upon Yusuke's next remark.

"I thought he was sulking because he's the only one without a girlfriend now."

Yusuke grinned as Kurama struggled to swallow his food.

"How's that whole deal working out for you, anyway?" he asked.

"I don't know what you mean," Kurama lied. "The day is passing so quickly and I've only managed to work with half of the rebels."

"Stop changing the subject!" Yusuke said, capitalising on Kurama's momentary lapse in concentration and stealing another cube of fish from him. "She's been in spirit world all this time, holding in all those urges–"

"Yusuke, it's not like that."

"What? There's no way she saw any action in spirit world. Wasn't she the key keeper there? Doesn't even sound like she had an exciting job."

"Yes, she was the key keeper, she worked in the secret file room."

"Alone?"

"Yes, she was alone up there."

"Thirty years alone in a filing room with nothing to do or think about?"

"As I understand it, whilst she was in her spirit body, she had no recollection of her previous life. Her memories were only returned to her when she was returned to her demon body."

"So I guess if you help her out with this rebel war, she'll be so grateful you can finally–"

"Don't say "seal the deal"."

"Why not?"

"Because it's not like that."

"Why not?"

"She… Can't take me seriously in this human body."

Yusuke laughed at Kurama's reply but quickly stopped again when he saw the way Kurama was looking at him.

"Oh, you're serious," he said. "That sucks."

"She never took me seriously in my demon body either, so I'm not really sure when she's toying with me and when she's being genuine."

Kurama looked up at the sky, suppressing a sigh when Yusuke stole the last of his fish during his moment of distraction.

"I should get moving anyway," he said, placing down the empty leaf and standing up. "The last four rebels I have yet to spend any time with are the most difficult four to work with."

"That Chita chick is an actual cheater," Yusuke said as he stood up alongside Kurama.

"She's fine," Kurama replied, ignoring the way Yusuke screwed up his face. "And, as she is an upper level C Class demon, she is one of the few I have no concerns about."

"So who are you concerned about?"

"The four that remain: the two young girls, Tora and Yasashi."

"You're gonna make the little girls fight?"

Kurama turned to look fully at Yusuke, who, after a brief moment under Kurama's glare, started to falter.

"Yeah, they were pretty efficient when I first met them, I guess," he muttered. "And then again when they helped us get free…"

"Every one of the rebels will need to fight and that includes the children: who, ironically, appear to be stronger than their mother."

"Wow. But Tora and Yasashi should be alright, shouldn't they? Tora's got that extra eye now and isn't Yasashi an A Class?"

"Tora is foolish and reckless and Yasashi hasn't fought for a long time."

"Then I guess you'll have to spend some time helping her work out."

"Yes."

"Should I put on some music for you?"

Kurama frowned, the growing grin on Yusuke's face doing little to ease the already queasy feeling swelling in his gut.

"Because the two of you don't actually spar like the rest of us," Yusuke continued. "You just "dance", right?"

Kurama's face dropped.

"I don't understand why I ever confide anything in you," he said bleakly.

"Guess you must have a masochistic streak," Yusuke replied. "You keep coming back to me for more and you keep going back to catwoman for more too."

Kurama forced a tight smile and moved past Yusuke, trying to forget the conversation they had just had.

* * *

Keiko bent her knees and straightened her back until she felt her shoulder touch Shizuru's. Standing back-to-back in a clearing in the trees, each armed with their new weapons, they watched and waited silently. Dappled sunlight flickered across the tree trunks around them as a breeze played through the branches of the trees overhead. Other than the rustling of the wind in the treetops, the forest was silent and still; but a small, barely audible gasp from Shizuru warned Keiko that their situation was about to change.

A bat demon came screeching towards them – Keiko had encountered him many times before during her training with Kuroko – and she swung her kendo stick at him as he drew near, the end colliding with one of his wings. He spiralled in the air as his wing went limp at his side and Shizuru put a hand on Keiko's shoulder and leapt up towards him, driving her fist into his gut.

When he fell to the ground in a motionless, crumpled heap, both Keiko and Shizuru stopped abruptly, looking first at each other and then at the fallen bat demon.

"That was… Intense…" Kuroko said, poking a toe at the bat demon experimentally.

"It's this stick!" Keiko said. "Ever since I used it to fight those demons, it's become really powerful!"

"Can I see it?" Kuroko asked, holding out her hand.

Keiko passed her the stick and then turned to Shizuru.

"I think I broke his wing," she whispered.

"I think I disembowelled him," Shizuru whispered back, looking down at the brass knuckles decorating her fist.

"This is a fairly rudimentary weapon," Kuroko concluded, holding the stick out towards Keiko. "The powerful blow it can deliver is not because the weapon is powerful or well-made, it's because you have such faith in it."

Keiko numbly accepted the stick.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I mean that little encounter you had on Ping Island seems to have helped you with the one area of your training I was struggling to develop."

Keiko raised her eyebrows and Kuroko smiled warmly, taking a step closer to her.

"I'm talking about what's up here," she said, touching the tip of her finger to Keiko's forehead. "You were holding on to a lot of self-doubt and it was holding you back."

"Oh, well…" Keiko said, looking down at her weapon. "I guess it was just nice to be the hero and not the victim this time."

She looked up at Shizuru and they exchanged smiles.

"What about you, Shizuru?" Koroko asked. "Is that a power amplifier from spirit world you have there?"

"Yeah, it is," Shizuru replied. "I guess I forgot how much stronger it makes my punches."

All three girls looked over at the fallen bat demon.

"He'll be fine," Kuroko assured her.

"Kuroko?"

Kuroko turned to Keiko, who looked down at her kendo stick one last time before hardening her resolve and looking her teacher directly in the eye.

"Do you think we're stronger now?" she asked. "I mean I know we've made some progress since we began our training, but now that we've been in battle, do you think we're stronger?"

Kuroko nodded, but frowned as though suspicious of Keiko's question.

"I think what Keiko is trying very diplomatically to ask you is if you think we're strong enough to go to demon world," Shizuru offered.

Kuroko's eyebrows shot up.

"Why would you need or even want to go to demon world?" she asked.

"Well, our friend Yukina is going," Keiko explained. "And… She's not so much of a fighter, but lately she's been trying really hard and now she's going to demon world to help an old friend of hers in a fight and we want to go with her."

Kuroko's eyebrows dropped back down into a frown.

"Girls, I can't stand here and tell you it's a good idea to go to demon world or to get embroiled in any demon world affairs," she said sternly.

"This is different," Keiko said.

"Usually I'd agree with you, Kuroko," Shizuru said. "But when we saw the situation ourselves and when we saw how strongly Yukina felt about it, we felt we wanted to help if we could. I don't really want to go to demon world, but I don't think I can sit back and let Yukina go into this without us."

"I see," Kuroko said, nodding her head. "And what does Koenma have to say about the two of you – as agents of spirit world – going to demon world to take sides in a demon war?"

"We don't know," Keiko replied. "He's in prison."

Kuroko balked.

"Well…" she said, before clearing her throat awkwardly. "Things certainly have changed since my days as spirit detective…"

"He's in prison because he was harbouring the leader of the rebel cat demons," Shizuru explained. "Yukina told us the rebel leader will go to spirit world and help bargain for him to be pardoned, but she isn't going to do it until she's gone back to demon world and had her big showdown with the loyalists."

"Right," Keiko agreed. "So in a way, we're joining the fight to help Koenma. In a way, it's our duty to do this."

Kuroko sighed and shook her head.

"I really don't think this is a wise decision," she said. "You're taking guidance from a demon."

"Yukina's probably the most benevolent demon ever born," Shizuru pointed out.

"But she's still a demon and you shouldn't forget that," Kuroko warned. "And you said yourself that she is emotionally invested in this conflict. She might not be thinking rationally herself."

"The rebels managed to abduct Kuwabara, Hiei and Yusuke," Keiko said. "They're pretty cunning. I think everyone else might have underestimated them."

"Yeah, and it wasn't even like it took all of them to incapacitate the boys," Shizuru added with a smirk. "They were all taken down by a pair of little girls in pigtails."

Keiko giggled but Kuroko remained stern.

"You need to take counsel on this from a more reliable source," she insisted. "If you can't reach Koenma, you should at least take advice from Botan before you embark on anything rash."

"Botan's MIA too," Shizuru replied.

"What?" Kuroko echoed.

"We think Botan was arrested at the same time as Koenma," Keiko explained. "The last time we saw her she was on her way back to spirit world and Yukina said she's in prison."

"If King Enma has detained his own son and his most competent assistant, this is serious," Kuroko said.

"Yes, it is," Keiko agreed. "And that's why we have to join the fight."

Kuroko glanced back and forth between her two students before sighing again.

"I can see I can't talk either of you out of this," she conceded. "So instead let's spend the rest of this lesson on an area I never expected to have to cover with either of you: I'm going to show you how to make your own protective and defensive talismans. There isn't anything that can stop a powerful demon altogether, but some of the talismans I know of can deflect certain attacks, slow down some demons and cause minor injury to others."

"Sounds good," Shizuru said.

Kuroko nodded and started to leave. Shizuru followed after her but Keiko lingered, jabbing the toe of her shoe at the bat demon. When he groaned she yelped and hurried on after the others.

* * *

 **A/N:** I couldn't find anything to back this up, but I thought Kokoda was 7 years younger than Shuichi/Kurama, so I'm saying he's 18 and in his last year of high school in this fic. This may seem like a minor/irrelevant point, but I figured I should add it in. During my research I did find out that his original name was also Shuichi, which isn't confusing at all…

Also, the opening scene of this chapter is like my favourite part of this story and my favourite aspect of this story. It's one of the two reasons why I was previously afraid of writing and posting a fic like this – I think it's really funny that super-powerful Kurama has to pass most of his days being super-boring and straight-laced Shuichi to his doting mother, but I don't think too many people share my opinion. The second reason I was wary of posting a fic like this in the past is because of what I am doing to the female characters: I know a lot of people don't like it when fanfics give new powers to characters that previously just had supporting roles in the original story. Don't care any more though, haha!


	12. Control

**Chapter 12 – Control**

Kurama stopped walking as his feet reached the sands of the beach. Puu stopped at one side of him and Yasashi stopped at his other side.

"I think today went well," he said. "Your strongest warriors probably aren't the ones you would expect, but your overall situation is not as dire as I originally feared."

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Yasashi asked.

"No, I know exactly what you mean," Kurama replied. "I have yet to spend time with Tora or you."

"Not what I meant…"

"I will return tomorrow as early as I can. Tomorrow is, after all, our last day to prepare. The day after that, you will, I assume, be returning to demon world?"

"I'm not going anywhere until you return my weapon to me."

Kurama turned his head to look directly at Yasashi, who had turned fully towards him and was holding out her hand expectantly.

"I will return it to you when we return to demon world," he told her.

"I can make another one!" she argued.

"Yes, you can," he agreed. "But it won't be as powerful or effective. You spent a long time refining the raspberry sundae with your spirit energy."

"So then give it back to me."

"In due time."

"You don't need to hold onto it to bribe me, Kurama."

Kurama frowned and Yasashi narrowed her eyes at him.

"You left something behind here that will make it impossible for me to return to demon world without your knowledge," she said.

Kurama glanced around at Puu before turning more fully towards Yasashi.

"I have to return home tonight," he said. "But Yusuke and Yukina have no such obligation and you know Kuwabara wouldn't let Yukina stay here without him."

"You didn't even offer to take the cat with you," Yasashi grumbled. "Though I suppose you're taking the bird, so at least that's something…"

"Puu is the fastest means of travel for me," Kurama pointed out.

"I'm surprised Yusuke released him to you without complaint: usually when someone else wants Puu's help he makes some remark about how his spirit beast isn't a taxi…"

"Yes, that's true."

Kurama looked out across the water at the twinkling lights of the city, a strange feeling washing over him as he did so.

"You've heard Yusuke make that remark about Puu already?" he asked, turning back to Yasashi.

A brief look somewhere between guilt and surprise flashed across her face but she quickly hid it behind a smile.

"He does tend to vocalise whatever he happens to be thinking," she said.

Kurama nodded, but something still seemed amiss and he decided to address the issue.

"There is something I must ask you before I go tonight–"

"I'm also not really sure it was necessary for you to spend so long teaching the children to fight."

Kurama hesitated, taken aback by Yasashi's words.

"I know we are few in number, but we're not so desperate that we need to send our children into battle," she added.

"Yasashi, you do realise that those two children are amongst your strongest warriors?" he carefully replied.

"Perhaps so, but they are still children," she said, folding her arms as though she thought the matter was over. "They are the future of our group, I'm not sending them out onto the frontline of battle. I don't mind them supporting in the background, but nothing more."

"The loyalists' primary targets are you and Tora."

"Exactly. So the children don't need to be at the frontline."

"On the contrary. If you expect to remain as a group, you will need to protect yourself and your deputy."

"You know neither Tora nor I would allow that."

"I still have another day, perhaps I can change your mind."

"You're very confident. Shuichi."

Kurama sighed and Yasashi grinned.

"You should go," she said, taking a step back. "Get your beauty sleep."

"I was about to suggest the same to you," Kurama replied with a smile.

He turned towards Puu, readying himself to jump up onto the spirit beast's back, but he stopped as he felt something against his shoulder. He looked down at the fingers lightly resting on the material of his shirt, waiting for Yasashi to tell him why she had halted him.

"I just wanted to…" she began. "Well I… That is to say I…"

Her hand slid from his shoulder and he turned to face her again.

"Thank you Kurama," she said. "For everything. I do appreciate that you came here today and spent time with the girls."

Kurama nodded.

"It was the least I could do," he said casually.

To his surprise, Yasashi looked angered by his response.

"You don't owe me anything!" she insisted. "None of you do!"

"Then perhaps once I am through assisting you, you will owe me something."

"I think I already am indebted to you."

"Then perhaps once I am through assisting you, we can discuss how you can repay me."

For the first time ever, Kurama saw Yasashi look taken aback and a little flustered by his words; it was the sort of effect she usually had on him.

"Good night," he said, before turning and leaping onto Puu's back.

"Good night, Kurama," she replied.

Kurama allowed himself a small smile as he heard her use his name. He waved to her as Puu rose through the air and, as he crossed the water, a backward glance showed him that she remained on the beach watching his departure. Puu flew fast and she soon faded from his line of sight: but she did not move during the time that he could still see her. During the remainder of his flight back to the mainland, his walk back to his car and the drive home, he wondered what lay ahead of Yasashi: he doubted even she herself had seriously considered what fate awaited her upon her return to demon world. By waiting three days she had bought herself and her team time to recover, but she had also allowed time for Iruka to limp back to the hinterlands and rile the loyalist leader Jagasame into a frenzy.

As Kurama walked through the front door, it occurred to him that he had never seen Jagasame and he wondered if the last few decades would have been used wisely by the cat demon tribe leader: if he would have used the time becoming stronger and wiser or if he had become lazy and too dependent on Iruka and his other foot soldiers.

"Oh Shuichi, you're home."

Kurama snapped out of his reverie, surprised to find his mother peering at him sleepily from her place huddled under a blanket on the couch, a table lamp the only light illuminating the room.

"Mother!" he said, stepping into the living room as she sat up and smoothed her hair back from her face. "Didn't I ask you not to wait up for me?"

"Yes, you did," she replied through a yawn. "But I wanted to see you when you came home. How did your date go?"

Kurama had, after enduring such a hectic day, almost forgotten about the lie he had told his mother that morning.

"Very well thank you," he recovered.

"My offer still stands for Sunday."

"Sunday…?"

"If you're ready to introduce her to your old mother, bring her round for dinner on Sunday!"

Kurama laughed nervously as his mother stumbled over to him and put her arms around his shoulders.

"I promise I won't embarrass you," she said as she leaned back from the embrace, resting her hands on his shoulders.

"Don't be silly," he assured her. "I'm not embarrassed at all."

"You might be when I show her all your baby photos!"

Kurama's face twisted against his will as he found himself once more experiencing a vision that came from a dark recess of his mind that he apparently had no control over: he saw Yasashi sitting at the dining table laughing over photos of Yoko Kurama trapped in the body of helpless and entirely dependent infant Shuichi. He could almost hear her jokes about how it was that a legendary fox demon had ended up fully conscious in a body that he could not even control the bladder of. That, he thought bitterly, was an experience that Yasashi had at least forgone by having her soul transferred into an adult spirit body rather than the body of a diaper-clad baby human.

"Don't look so worried, Shuichi," his mother said warmly, the sound of her voice thankfully culling the sequence of potential disasters his mind had been spawning. "You were a beautiful baby and I promise I won't show her the photo of you with the big bee sting on your little nose."

Kurama forced a smile: he could remember the day that photo was taken. He had only been in his human body for a little over a year and he had crawled his way over to a blooming rosebush in the park his mother had taken him to for a picnic. In his mind he had been wondering if, now that his human body was finally mobile, he would be able to access his demon energy and start to influence simple plants. He remembered seeing his own, chubby little hand grab at a dog rose, his clumsy movements disturbing a bee that had then landed on his nose. He lacked the dexterity required to hit the bee away, and after several failed attempts, the enraged bee had stung the end of his nose, leaving it red and swollen and hindering the edges of his vision for the best part of a week.

"You were my brave little soldier that day," Shiori said with a sigh. "You never cried once."

Kurama forced another smile and tried not to think about how he had reacted the next time a bee had landed on his face at the age of fourteen, when he had finally regained control of a portion of his demon energy.

"It's late," he said instead. "I never meant to wake you."

"I have some leftover soup and crackers if you're hungry?"

Kurama opened his mouth to refuse the offer, but before he could speak his stomach betrayed him by letting out a noise he was sure his mother could have heard even if she had been in the next room.

"That would be nice, thank you," he said instead.

As he followed Shiori towards the kitchen, Kurama silently wondered what would happen after the showdown between the two factions of the cat demon tribe.

More specifically, he wondered if Yasashi would wait for him to return to demon world; because as long as his mother was in the living world, he had a duty to remain by her side, as Shuichi.

* * *

Yukina sat primly on the edge of the remains of the fountain in the Citron Hotel forecourt, silently wondering how Kuwabara had managed to fall asleep so soundly. He was laid in a hammock the cat demons had made by suspending an old curtain between two lamp-posts, one leg dangling out, his sock-covered foot brushing against the ground infrequently. She was unsure if she was more or less amazed that Yusuke had fallen asleep in the hollow frame of a window, lying on hard stone and snoring shamelessly.

But, she thought to herself as she watched them both, they were deeply asleep and had been for some time; which was giving her an idea.

She silently stood up, looked about to confirm that there was no-one else around and then she carefully removed her bandana. She already knew that Hiei could use his jagan eye to watch other people's dreams – she had caught him doing it to her several times – and she wanted to test if she could do the same. Using the jagan eye to read dreams seemed like a simple exercise to help her learn how to control her new power and she was sure neither Kuwabara nor Yusuke would mind her practising on them.

Yukina decided to start with Kuwabara. She hoped that she would not wake him and she wondered if she might even be able to interact with him within his dream. She moved over to stand next to Kuwabara's hammock, looking down at his face the way she had seen Hiei do to her and then closing her eyes, concentrating on opening her third eye the same way she had when Yasashi had helped her use her power to look ahead to Ping Island. She felt the skin on her forehead moving around to allow the eye to open – a sensation she was yet to become accustomed to – and she saw a watery image of Kuwabara sleeping on the hammock. She concentrated harder, trying to reach into his mind, trying to reach out to anything, but her vision did not change. She felt the same alien rush of power within herself, but still the jagan eye only showed her a flattened, blurry vision of the reality around her.

Yukina gave up with a sigh, opening her eyes again. She enjoyed a brief moment of blissful ignorance before noticing something untoward on the edge of her vision. She slowly lifted up her hands in front of her face, her eyes growing larger as she realised that her skin had turned green. She took a staggering step back, her breath coming in short gasps as she tried to figure out what had happened to her.

"Oh snowflake, you're in over your head."

Yukina spun around to see Tora smiling at her in a very patronising manner.

"You didn't even mean to do that, did you?" she asked.

Yukina started to shake her head and then tried to speak, but she was still too confused as to why her skin was green and why she could still feel the driving rush of energy in her chest despite having opened her eyes again. Tora smiled and held up a shard of a mirror she had oddly been carrying, turning it around to allow Yukina to see her own reflection.

Yukina looked at the green face looking back at her for a matter of seconds before screaming in blind panic.

Kuwabara was the first to respond, leaping out of his hammock before he had even opened his eyes and blurting out a promise to protect Yukina: until he caught sight of her, whereupon he too began to cry out in alarm.

Yusuke stumbled towards them, grunting out curses before noticing Yukina and joining Kuwabara in a yelling contest.

"What the heck did you do to my beautiful Yukina?" Kuwabara cried, turning to Tora expectantly.

Tora rolled her eyes and opened out her hands, allowing the mirror fragment to fall to the ground, where it shattered upon impact.

"I forgot Hiei could do that," Yusuke said as his initial shock started to pass. "Hey New Hiei, good job on figuring out how to power-up already!"

Yukina blinked owlishly before letting out a small sob of confusion and despair.

"She didn't do it on purpose," Tora spat. "Isn't that obvious?"

"Nobody likes you," Yusuke told her.

"Oh really?" Tora scoffed. "Then why are you all still here?"

"I'm only here because of Yukina," Kuwabara said.

"Didn't you come here to ask advice about your pet cat?" Tora asked him.

"We're here because of Yasashi," Yukina said.

Tora arched her eyebrows.

"Yeah, when I encountered Yasashi in her spirit form it did seem as though she was closely linked to–"

When Tora's head snapped back and she staggered back two paces, Kuwabara and Yusuke were left looking as shocked as Yukina felt as her outstretched fist hung in the air at the point where it had made contact with Tora's jaw.

"Nice," Yusuke commented.

Yukina slowly retracted her fist, relieved to see her skin was fading back to its normal colour once more.

"What's your problem, snowflake?" Tora snapped as she righted herself and rubbed a hand at her jaw.

"I'm the only one who has seen the file," Yukina flatly replied. "And you're the only one who has read my mind."

Tora moved her eyes over Yusuke and Kuwabara, appearing to consider what Yukina had just told her.

"If that's true, then I understand their presence here even less than I did before," she concluded.

"I think you should leave us now," Yukina said.

"Ooh, the little ice princess thinks she's something because she got a jagan eye!" Tora retaliated.

"We could say the same thing about you," Kuwabara pointed out.

"This situation right here is laughable: I could crush the little girl in seconds, the big idiot won't fight me because I'm female and the amateur comedian over here has one of the weakest defences I've ever encountered."

"Are you challenging me?" Yusuke asked, stepping forwards.

"Please don't do this!" Yukina said, holding up her hands. "We shouldn't be fighting amongst ourselves."

"If that's how you feel, why did you throw the first punch?" Tora snapped.

"I don't care who threw the first punch, everybody stop it right now!"

Tora's eyes doubled in size and Yusuke, Kuwabara and Yukina turned to see what had caught her attention, finding Yasashi hurrying towards them, barefoot, a towel wound around her hair and another towel wrapped around her body.

"Don't you have better things to do with your time?" she asked as she neared Tora.

"Yeah, I do," Tora said, giving Yukina a dark look before darting off.

"I'm so sorry about Tora," Yasashi said, turning to Yukina.

"She doesn't like me," Yukina said.

"Oh, she doesn't like anyone!" Yasashi said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Don't worry about it. She's an excellent fighter and very loyal."

"Were you… Were you taking a bath?" Kuwabara asked.

Yasashi looked down at herself before answering him.

"Most of the interior of the hotel is still in tact," she replied. "There's plenty of clean linen and it didn't take much effort to fill a bath… What's your excuse?"

Kuwabara looked down at himself and looked a little embarrassed, but Yusuke was unaffected, despite his hair having fallen out of his preferred slicked back style.

"What are you looking at?" Yasashi asked him.

"Mee-wow, nice towel, catgirl!" he replied.

She stared flatly back at him.

"So I got a serious question for you," he continued. "It's about the changes that happened between the body you had in spirit world and your demon body."

Yasashi looked slightly concerned, but said nothing and so Yusuke pressed on.

"Which body needs a bigger bra?"

Yasashi growled, flashing her teeth at him.

"Yusuke, you pervert!" she snapped. "You're not even original! We had this conversation before and I will tell you now exactly what I told you the last time: that's not something I would ever discuss with you!"

Kuwabara turned abruptly to Yusuke.

"Gees, Urameshi!" he said. "You only met her yesterday and you've already asked her twice about the size of her… I mean the… I, uh… You're such a pervert!"

Yusuke shook his head.

"I never asked her about her bra size before," he said, turning his attention to Yasashi. "Get your facts right, lady!"

"You tried to get me to tell you what size of bra I wore when we were in the–"

Yasashi stopped abruptly, her face turning pale and her expression neutralising. There was a protracted and awkward silence, during which she barely so much as blinked.

"Why don't you boys go and get yourselves some breakfast," she eventually said.

She put her hands on Yukina's shoulders and pushed her ahead of herself, aiming her back towards the hotel itself. Once they were out of sight, Yusuke and Kuwabara turned to each other.

"That was weird, huh?" Kuwabara asked.

"Kuwabara?" Yusuke asked, his face twisting. "I gotta serious question for you now."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. How is it that your hair never falls out of style, even when you sleep on it or it gets wet?"

"…What?"

Yusuke and Kuwabara exchanged questioning looks.

"Also, Kuwabara, your girlfriend can turn into a green-skinned monster now," Yusuke said after a short silence.

"Oh yeah?" Kuwabara flatly responded. "Well your girlfriend's the new spirit detective, and she does a way better job at the diplomacy side of it than you ever did because she's way smarter than you ever will be!"

Yusuke and Kuwabara exchanged angered looks before turning their backs on each other and walking away in separate directions.

* * *

"Keiko, Shizuru! What are the two of you doing here?"

Kurama glanced back and forth between the two new spirit detectives, assuming that they had simply followed Puu without understanding where he was heading.

"We're coming with you," Keiko answered him.

"To Ping Island?" he asked.

"No, to demon world," Shizuru replied.

Kurama smiled.

"That's very funny," he said.

"Oh yeah?" Shizuru responded, turning to fully face him. "What's so funny about it? Because I wasn't joking, "Shuichi"."

Kurama cleared his throat and adjusted his tie self-consciously before answering her.

"My apologies," he said tightly. "I assumed you had seen Puu travelling to the bay or perhaps you were eager to get in touch with Yusuke or Kuwabara on Ping Island."

"No, we want to join the fight in demon world," Keiko said. "We're going to Ping Island today to find out what the plan is for tomorrow."

"As neither of you have ever been to demon world, I must advise you against this," Kurama tried.

"Can it fox boy, we've already made up our minds," Shizuru bluntly replied.

"I'm disappointed that you would be this rash, Shizuru."

Kurama leapt up onto Puu's back before either girl could answer him, settling himself at the base of Puu's neck. To his surprise, Shizuru leapt up effortlessly behind him. Keiko made a clumsy attempt to follow, only reaching her goal thanks to a helping hand from her friend.

"You have no obligation to get involved in this," Kurama continued as Puu stood up and spread his wings. "Either of you."

"We work for spirit world," Keiko replied. "And this whole mess started because spirit world were harbouring a demon fugitive, right? So that really makes this a spirit world issue and something that – if he wasn't in prison – I'm pretty sure Koenma would have asked Shizuru and me to look into."

"Exactly," Shizuru added.

"The loyalist cat demons alone are too powerful a nemesis for even your combined efforts," Kurama insisted. "But the rebels will not only be facing the loyalists, they will be constantly fighting off every bandit and bounty hunter in demon world."

"We know," Keiko said. "But we think we can handle it. Yasashi is a little… Eccentric… But Tora was strong enough and clever enough to capture Yusuke, Kuwabara and Hiei, and Tora says Yasashi is much stronger and smarter than she is, so we think Yasashi is strong enough to lead this battle. Yukina believes in her and Yukina hates violence, but she's joining the fight anyway."

"Yukina is acting out of a misplaced, guilty sense of obligation," Kurama pointed out. "Neither of the two of you have such burdens on your consciences. I am warning you, as a friend and as someone who better understands what lies ahead, to consider your actions very carefully before committing yourself to anything."

There was a short silence and, as Puu began the descent towards the forecourt of the Citron Hotel, Kurama thought that he had finally struck a chord of understanding in Keiko and Shizuru.

"I've thought about it, but I don't feel any differently."

Kurama suppressed a growl at Shizuru's words. Puu landed and she was the first to disembark, followed closely by Keiko.

"Sorry Kurama," Keiko called up to him. "We've already thought a lot about this and nobody can change our minds. Not even you."

Kurama lingered on Puu's back, watching Keiko hurry over to join Yusuke and Shizuru continue into the hotel. He then turned his attention to the pair of eyes he could already feel watching him, finding Tora watching him almost expectantly.

"Yasashi said I should train with you today," she said as their eyes met, sounding about as enthusiastic about the idea as Kurama felt.

"Yes, I promised her I would work with you this morning," he replied, disembarking Puu.

"Are you gonna change first?" Tora asked, walking over to stand in front of him.

She ran her eyes over him critically and he copied her action before giving her a small smile.

"I dress this way when I leave my home as a ruse," he explained. "I have to convince my human family I am merely leaving for another day of work at the office."

"That's fascinating, but I wasn't talking about you changing your clothes, I was talking about you changing your form," Tora flatly replied.

"My form?" Kurama echoed, genuinely unsure what she was referring to.

"No offense, "Shuichi", but you're not really much of a challenge to me in your princess form. I was rather hoping I could spar with Yoko today."

Kurama sighed quietly.

"What's the problem?" Tora asked, her amusement starting to show. "We all know Yasashi prefers Yoko to Shuichi. I thought you would have transformed before now for that reason alone."

"I will change my clothing, but nothing more," Kurama coldly replied. "And the first lesson I will teach you is how myopic it is to judge your opponent based on physical appearances or apparent lack of physically strong characteristics."

Tora rolled her eyes but Kurama ignored her, marching away with his briefcase and leaping through a hollow windowframe to take himself inside the hotel to find a more private place to change his clothes.

* * *

Shizuru moved silently through the halls of the hotel. She was not surprised that Keiko had not felt what she had as Puu approached Ping Island, but she was a little surprised that Kurama had not noticed it. Regardless, she found herself investigating alone, the pressing feeling of something miserable and conflicted leaning on her shoulders and head in a way that was starting to give her a headache. She felt a little disappointed in herself, mildly angered that her training was not sufficient for her to overcome the adverse effects she was feeling, but when she finally got close enough to the source of the sadness, she heard something that proved to be enough of a distraction that she forgot all about her creeping migraine.

Whoever it was that was sobbing nearby was someone she knew: the sounds she could hear were unmistakable.

Shizuru had heard those same stifled snifflings before but she could not quite place when, where or even who they belonged to. Everyone she knew on the island was outside the hotel and so the sound made even less sense; and just as she thought she could not feel any more confused, Shizuru reached an open doorway, the weather-worn door only hanging on by one hinge, and in the room beyond, she saw the leader of the cat demon rebels standing facing a wall, one hand on the wall, the other hovering by her mouth.

"Hey, are you okay?" Shizuru said as she entered the room.

Yasashi spun around, and despite the look of shock on her face, it was still evident that she had been crying.

"Hi Shizuru!" she recovered after a brief moment of panic. "I'm feeling great! In fact, so great, all I want to do is smile!"

Yasashi grinned in a way that almost looked maniacal and Shizuru silently wondered if the cat demon had any idea how terrible an actress she was.

"You know, there should be a law against feeling this great!"

"Okay, now you're over-selling it."

Yasashi faltered slightly and Shizuru moved closer to her.

"I've been getting this strange vibe from you from the moment you first followed Yukina into my house," Shizuru said. "It's like you're hiding a great amount of conflicting emotions and I guess at this stage, the day before you lead your rebels into battle, you really need to figure out what's bothering you and try to sort it out."

"It's just that…" Yasashi began, looking back over her shoulder out of a hollow windowframe.

Shizuru leaned to one side to share her view, finding herself looking down at everyone else on the island – with the exception of Kurama and Tora.

"When I died, there were forty-six of us."

Shizuru gasped involuntarily, turning wide eyes to the rebel leader.

"It's true," Yasashi sadly confirmed. "Including me, there were forty-six rebels. I've been gone for thirty years, and now there are only ten of us – and two of our number are children. In my absence, thirty-six rebels have been killed or converted: that's like one every ten months!"

"That's not good, but that just means you have to be stronger for those that are left," Shizuru replied.

"I don't know that I can be!" Yasashi said, her eyes watering again. "The rebellion was never about a war! It was just about me and Tora escaping the oppressive way of life we faced if we remained living under Jagasame! We were supposed to get that land from spirit world, we were supposed to find a safe place to live in peace!"

"Come on now, that's surely not entirely true. We all saw how happy the other rebels were to see you when you returned to them."

"I'm just a symbol of hope to them. Most of them – with the exception of Chita and the young girls – are older than me and can remember when I was born. They remember that I was being groomed to be Jagasame's wife and they remember how I used all my lessons to become stronger and learn how to break free. I've never faced Jagasame himself: they all think I'm stronger than he is, but how would they know? He always hid behind Iruka and his other foot soldiers, nobody knows how strong he is! My hand has been forced, I have to fight this head-on now."

"You won't be alone in your fight! Keiko and I are joining you, you know Yukina and Kurama are coming with you and, by the looks of things, my baby brother and his good friend Yusuke are joining in too. I'm pretty sure this Jagasame guy isn't any stronger than any one of the boys, least of all more so than all three of them combined."

Yasashi seemed to consider what Shizuru had said, but again she could sense that strange air of conflicting and powerful emotions barely concealed beneath the surface of the cat demon's demeanour. As Yasashi saw the way Shizuru was watching her she forced a smile despite the tear that escaped one of her eyes,

"Oh Shizuru!" she said. "We have to stop meeting like this! Me crying in corridors and you coming in and being all sensible with your words and your… Reassuring words!"

Shizuru took a step closer to Yasashi and made to put a hand on her shoulder, but gasped when the rebel leader pounced at her, grabbing her into a fierce embrace. Shizuru awkwardly patted her on the shoulder, unable to escape the series of ideas that washed over her as she started to feel the warmth of Yasashi's body pressed so tightly against her own.

"Hey Yasashi, there's something I've been meaning to ask you," she started.

"What is it?" Yasashi asked, her hold as tight as ever.

"How do you know my name is Shizuru?"

Yasashi slowly loosened her hold of Shizuru and the two slowly stepped back from each other. The look on Yasashi's face only confirmed Shizuru's suspicions that something untoward was going on, that the rebel leader was hiding something vital.

"Because when I came into your house, I was told your name was Shizuru," Yasashi mechanically replied.

"No you weren't," Shizuru corrected her. "Yukina introduced you to us, but she didn't introduce us to you. How did you figure out that my name was Shizuru?"

"Because that's not what happened," Yasashi said, her voice as flat and her face as stiff as before.

"Yes it is," Shizuru insisted.

"No! It's not! I remember! Yukina said that Kurama, Keiko and Shizuru were in that house! And Kurama was gone and that left Keiko and Shizuru – which is you!"

"Yukina never told you which one of us was Keiko and which one was Shizuru."

Yasashi blinked.

"I figured it out when I heard you talking to each other," she said. "You called Keiko by her name and then I knew that you must be Shizuru."

"That's funny, because that's not how I remember it," Shizuru replied. "The first person to call one of us by our name was you: you called Keiko by her name seconds after you walked into the house without anyone telling you that she was the one called Keiko."

Yasashi's mouth moved but no sound came out.

"It's almost like you already knew who we were," Shizuru continued. "But I don't remember ever meeting you in spirit world. I thought you were the key keeper in spirit world and you never left the room with all the secret files. I've only ever been to Koenma's office in spirit world and even then only the once. And I'm pretty sure you'd never met Keiko before then either."

Yasashi stared blankly at Shizuru for several seconds before suddenly breaking out into an incredibly awkward and nervous laugh.

"Oh Shizuru, you do crack me up!"

"What?"

"You're such a comedian!"

"I'm not – hey!"

Shizuru tried to protest and tried to resist, but with surprising strength of grip Yasashi grabbed her shoulder and pulled her around and then began pushing her towards the open doorway.

"I have such a busy day ahead of me, I was just so nervous, but your wonderful jokes have cheered me up so much, thank you for stopping by, Shizuru!"

Shizuru grabbed at the doorframe and tried to halt herself there, but she only succeeded in slowing her exit as Yasashi pushed her on relentlessly, pushing her all the way to the exterior doorway of the hotel that she had entered through minutes earlier.

"Have a lovely day now!"

"Hey!"

Shizuru spun around as Yasashi released her, but with an impressive display of speed and agility Shizuru had not previously thought the cat demon possessed, she leapt up through a hole into the floor above and vanished from sight. Shizuru stepped back into the hotel, positioning herself directly beneath the hole in the roof, scowling up at it: something was definitely amiss with Yasashi, and she intended to find out exactly what it was. As soon as she was sure that the rebel leader was not going to return, Shizuru turned and left the hotel again, looking about those gathered outside. She focused on Yukina, who was standing patiently listening to Kuwabara regale her with a tale of his bravery. She wondered if the ice maiden would be able to answer the questions she needed to ask: after all, she had already demonstrated that she was fiercely loyal to and protective of Yasashi. It was a situation Shizuru had never expected to be in, but she actually felt unsure that she could trust Yukina to be entirely honest with her.

And so Shizuru turned her attention to Keiko.

"Hey sweetheart, you got a minute?" she said quietly as she reached her follow spirit detective.

Keiko turned to the cat demon she had been talking to, who nodded politely.

"Sure, is everything okay?" she asked as she turned back to Shizuru.

"Not really," Shizuru replied. "I need to go to spirit world to check out a few facts. And I need you to come with me."

Keiko looked about herself with wide eyes as though confused and a little afraid of what was being asked of her.

"Please Keiko, it's important," Shizuru insisted. "We have to go and we have to go right now."

"O-okay," Keiko agreed.

"Let's not make it obvious though," Shizuru said. "I'll go down to the beach we landed on and you bring Puu and meet me there in ten minutes. If we both go at the same time, someone might notice."

"Why are we sneaking away?" Keiko asked.

"I'll explain on the way."

Keiko nodded and Shizuru took one last look about herself before quietly departing from the group and starting towards the beach.


	13. Spirit World Influence

**Chapter 13 – Spirit World Influence**

Kurama held out a hand to Tora, who promptly growled and slapped aside his offer.

"I get it!" she snapped irritably. "You're still strong, even in that pathetic body!"

"I'm not trying to beat you down, Tora," he gently replied. "I didn't even launch an attack: you rebounded off of my defence. I think you need to admit to Yasashi – and to yourself – that you are still weakened from the venom of the sinning tree. You're sluggish, off-balance and you don't seem to have access to all of your demon energy."

"I'm stronger than any plant Iruka can summon, even if it was a sinning tree he used!" Tora stubbornly retorted.

"Unfortunately, it appears as though our session today will not be about me teaching you any new fighting techniques," Kurama said. "Instead it seems all I can hopefully teach you today is to know your own weaknesses and shortcomings and to be honest about them. You must remember that you are not acting alone and you are no longer in charge of the rebel movement. You are answerable to Yasashi and you must tell her the truth about your condition."

"You'd like that, wouldn't you "Shuichi"."

Tora slowly and awkwardly got to her feet, her teeth bared, her breathing still laboured and her body still shaking.

"Or are you "Kurama" now that you've changed out of that ridiculous human get-up you were wearing this morning?" she added.

"As much as I enjoy this verbal parrying, the salient issue here is not my name or identity," Kurama smoothly replied.

"Oh but it is," Tora immediately responded. "You put on your little shirt and tie and you live your human life as Shuichi and then you put on your formal fighting clothes and you get to be Kurama, but you're never really Yoko again."

"I'm not sure I understand the point you are trying to make."

"I know you spontaneously revert back to Yoko when you enter demon world. You want to tell Yasashi that I am too weak to stand alongside her so that she will concede to let you join us because that way you get to go to demon world, turn back into Yoko and make a fool of yourself in front of her all over again."

"I resent that. I have done nothing but help you these past few days – I could easily have captured you and returned you forcibly to demon world the first day I encountered you at the ice cream parlour but I have shown you leniency the likes of which you have never received from anyone else. I am not so shallow that I only desire to flaunt the body and power of Yoko Kurama in front of your leader."

"Oh no?"

"No."

"Are you sure about that?"

Kurama narrowed his eyes, not wishing to get drawn into a petty argument but equally losing patience with the constant insults he had been on the receiving end of since approaching Tora that morning. She smiled at his lack of a response and reached up her still shaking hands to commence removing her bandana.

"Did you forget that I have this?" she asked as she revealed her jagan eye. "I can see the truth with this."

"You are a fool if you think you can use your jagan eye to read my mind," Kurama bluntly replied. "Even Hiei, a true master of the jagan, cannot access my inner thoughts and desires. If you think yourself more capable than he then you truly are blinded by arrogance."

"Okay, maybe I can't use my jagan eye to read your mind, but it still allows me to battle in ways you haven't even addressed in this pointless little exercise of ours. Yukina maybe had absolutely no control over her new powers, but I can control my transformation into a more powerful form. If you really wanted to help me by working with my greatest strengths you would have offered to spar with me in that form: but instead you are forcing me to battle with plants I have no experience or knowledge of in order to make me appear weak so that you can justify to Yasashi that you are needed as part of our war on the loyalists."

"Time is not on your side and so it's hardly beneficial for either of us to continue this pointless discussion; particularly so when the argument you are making is so groundless and you are apparently deaf to my replies."

"Wow, now who's the one being arrogant?"

"If you cannot put this issue aside then I cannot help you any more today."

"I bet you'd like that too! Another excuse to go running to Yasashi to tell her I'm not strong enough and that she needs you with her too!"

"I will afford you one more opportunity to cease this bickering or I will turn around and walk away."

"Running away? Oh yeah, that's really helpful!"

"Hey, whoa, not interrupting anything, am I?"

Kurama had not felt so relieved to see Yusuke in quite some time.

"The two of you sound like an old married couple," he added. "What's up?"

"Perhaps you can help," Kurama replied. "Tora needs a sparring partner."

Without waiting to hear what either had to say on the matter, Kurama turned away from both Yusuke and Tora and swiftly left them behind. As Tora had insisted on having the sparring session far from the hotel, he was shortly on his own, walking through overgrown gardens and past a deteriorating tennis court; he suspected Tora had wanted to move their training away from the eyes of her peers, lest they all realise just how weakened she was. As the island was small however, the walk back to the hotel would not take long, but Kurama found himself walking at a slow pace, taking the moment of solitude to try to brush aside Tora's taunts, which had bothered him more than he would ever outwardly show or admit to.

Truthfully, he was not really sure how he felt about Yasashi: he was still amazed that she had survived, that she was back in her full demon form and that she was even more driven to rebel against the loyalists despite the passage of time and the loss of many of her followers. It was hard to even think what the future would hold for the rebel leader. She was facing a tough road ahead, as the only way her rebels could ever live in peace in demon world would be if she overthrew Jagasame as leader of the cat demon tribe, if she could somehow reach a peace treaty with the loyalists or if she was killed.

Kurama had almost forgotten about Yasashi and a small part of him felt it was almost cruel that she had been brought back for only three days before potentially getting herself killed again.

"Yo."

As though in response to his thoughts, the rebel leader dropped – seemingly out of the sky – and landed on the path ahead of him.

"Hello," he greeted her.

"If you're walking back this way, I assume that means you've finished with Tora," she said.

Kurama glanced over his shoulder, surprised by the silence behind him, as he had expected that Tora and Yusuke would have commenced some sort of altercation, be it verbal or physical, almost as soon as he left them.

"So now it must be my turn."

Kurama turned back to Yasashi, finding her smiling at him in a way that was not really appropriate given the gravity of her situation.

"We should discuss a little something first," he began.

"Right," she agreed. "Now you're either going to tell me you are insisting on coming to demon world with me or you're going to tell me that Tora is still weak from the effects of having her leg sucked into the sinning tree and she won't be fit for battle unless she can get past her stubborn pride and let someone help her heal or take the time to heal herself."

"You knew Tora was weakened?"

"Of course I did. I'm not an idiot – despite what Hiei might tell you."

Kurama smiled.

"Take heart, Yasashi," he said. "Hiei calls just about everyone an idiot at some point."

"I suppose so," Yasashi agreed. "But don't worry about Tora. I have a plan."

"You will need a rather robust plan," Kurama pointed out. "Among your group, Tora is second in strength only to you. Without her at her best, your team is considerably weakened."

"I have it all worked out."

"Really?"

"Yes. Of course, my plan will work a lot better once you return my weapon to me."

Yasashi put one hand on her jutted hip and held out the other expectantly.

"I already told you I would return it to you when we return to demon world. Together."

To Kurama's surprise, Yasashi smiled at his response.

"I see," she said.

He frowned, wondering why she seemed to suddenly no longer care that he was still holding onto her weapon.

"My training is to fight you for it."

"What?"

"You're not going to just give it back to me, I have to take it back. Right now. By force."

Kurama waited for Yasashi to tell him that she was joking, but her expression and stance remained unchanged.

"Actually," he began, when she said no more. "I–"

Kurama stopped abruptly, leaping back an instant before Yasashi landed where he had been standing. She met his eyes and for a moment both stood perfectly still, looking directly at the other. He caught a brief glint in her eye and took it as a warning that she was literally going to fight him for her weapon. She started to run to one side and he mirrored her actions, watching her closely for her next move. He was not sure that she had ever fought him seriously, but perhaps this time, with her desire to take back her weapon and to prove to him that she did not need his help against the loyalists, she was about to fight him with all she had.

He flinched involuntarily when she suddenly leapt at one of the few tall trees remaining on the island, leaping up it with a level of efficiency that rivalled Hiei's tree-scaling capabilities. He started after her, surprised to see that she was making no move to draw a weapon. She continued to the very top of the tree where she made what looked like a casual swipe at the smaller branches before leaping out of the tree towards the ground below. Kurama watched her land on her feet – something he knew she somehow always managed to do – and then he leapt after her.

Kurama grunted as his weight suddenly caught on his wrists and he found himself hanging in the air, just above the point where his toes could reach the ground. He looked up to see spirals of bark peeled from the tree and wound around his wrists and then he lowered his gaze, finding himself on eye-level with Yasashi, who was standing less than three feet in front of him, her arms folded and a mildly irritated look on her face.

"You could easily free yourself," she said, as though sensing what he was thinking. "You could have done it by now. Why haven't you? Are you going easy on me?"

Kurama smiled.

"I was curious to see what you had planned next," he said.

"Usually I'd use my raspberry sundae to send you to sleep and then I'd flee," she replied.

"That's honest."

"Yes, but impossible to enact as you still have my weapon."

"In this position, you could probably take it back from me."

"That depends."

"On what?"

"On where you've hidden it."

Yasashi began to pace back and forth, looking quite thoughtful – though in Kurama's experience, she usually only wore such an expression when she was building up to an insolent punch-line.

"You originally put it up your sleeve," she said as she paced. "But that was on your Shuichi shirt, not your Kurama clothes. You like to hide things in your hair but I also remember Gama falling foul of your hair once before so I wouldn't want to risk just putting my hands in there."

"Gama?" Kurama echoed.

"Yes, in the dark tournament," Yasashi replied. "He secured your arms and legs but you still managed to attack him by controlling your rose whip with a flick of your hair."

"…You saw my fight against Gama too?"

"I saw all your fights in the dark tournament. And I know you probably couldn't hear it from down in the ring but let me tell you the audience were stunned by that little "rose whip in the hair" trick you pulled. Stunned. It was the first time some of them actually shut-up for more than three seconds."

"How do you know how the audience were reacting?"

"And that's assuming – of course – that you have hidden my raspberry sundae up your sleeve or in your hair. You could have left it at home today as an excuse to come back here tomorrow. Or you could have hidden it somewhere else about your person…"

Kurama froze when Yasashi took a step closer to him and purposefully raked her eyes over his body.

"Are you happy to remain in that position?" she asked, her voice lowered as though she was afraid someone might overhear her.

"I can think of worse positions I could be in," he replied, lowering his voice to match hers.

"So does this mean that Shuichi is a submissive?"

Kurama sighed and Yasashi smiled.

"Or maybe Yoko is the submissive," she said.

"What?" Kurama echoed.

"In my experience, some of the more powerful demons in demon world quite like to take a submissive role since they are normally always so dominant in other areas of their lives."

Kurama tilted his head slightly, an idea occurring to him. Deciding that he had nothing to lose, he let himself ask the question that had arisen in his mind upon hearing Yasashi's last remark.

"As an A-class demon who habitually lived amongst far weaker demons, does that rule extend to you also?"

She looked at him as though confused, her eyes searching his before a brief look of understanding passed over her features and she found her smile again.

"Well, well," she said, her voice still quiet. "It seems Shuichi has a sense of humour."

"There's a lot you don't know about Shuichi," Kurama replied.

"I probably know more than you think," Yasashi replied, an odd look briefly fleeting across her face.

"I have a question for you now, Yasashi."

"Okay…"

"Since you claim you have studied my fights in the dark tournament, I wonder how many of my tactics you are familiar with? You say you saw my fight against Gama: did you see my subsequent battle against Touya?"

"Of course."

"And did you notice what tactic I used against Touya?"

"…You planted the seed of the death plant into your own body… Please don't do that right now. Even Yoko isn't that determined."

"I wasn't referring to how I finished my fight against Touya. I was referring more to how I started my fight against Touya."

"Started…?"

Yasashi pressed the tip of her index finger to her chin and rolled her eyes upwards as though trying to remember what Kurama had asked of her. She stayed that way for some time, eventually forcing Kurama to end the moment.

"Too late," he said.

"What?" she said, her hand dropping to her side and her eyes meeting his.

"The tactic I was referring to was how I distracted Touya with my words in order to buy myself enough time for Gama's curses to wear off," Kurama explained. "And you just fell for that exact tactic and now I have the upper hand in this altercation."

Yasashi gasped as Kurama slid loose from his binds and held out his hands clenched into fists.

"All that time you wasted talking, I was able to transfer my energy into the ivy growing on the tree you bound me to: and I used the plant to take the contents of your sleeves."

Yasashi turned far paler than seemed necessary, looking more horrified than surprised at Kurama's words.

"In this hand I have a ball of string," Kurama continued, opening out one fist. "And in this hand I have all your seeds and–"

Kurama stopped abruptly as his own eyes landed on the contents of his hand. He had not realised what he had recovered as his hands had been above his head when the ivy had brought him the contents of Yasashi's sleeves: but what he could see was the last thing he had expected to.

"I… I'm sorry, I didn't expect you to still have any… Mementoes from spirit world on your person…" he said quietly.

"I don't even know what that is!" Yasashi said, snatching the three mejiru shiiru labels from Kurama's hand and flinging them aside. "Anything from spirit world is bound to be garbage though, right?"

She laughed a little too loudly and falsely and Kurama could not help but feel suspicious.

"Is there anything else you're hiding from me?" he asked.

She stopped laughing and met his eyes, the look on her face doing little to ease his concerns.

* * *

Keiko turned to Shizuru, but found that her friend was still staring blankly ahead, seemingly at nothing.

"We've been here a long time," she commented.

Shizuru made a small sound of acknowledgement but otherwise did not respond.

"Do you think we will be allowed to visit Koenma?" Keiko asked.

"We're not leaving here until they let us through," Shizuru replied.

Keiko nodded and turned to look in the direction Shizuru was, wondering if she would be able to see what it was that was captivating her attention. Both girls were sitting on what appeared to be the only two chairs in a long, poorly-lit corridor that they had been left in after being passed between several different ogres in their attempts to visit Koenma. The last ogre had sat them down with the promise that he would arrange for them to see the prince, but a considerable length of time had passed and the corridor had become completely silent in that time.

Keiko moved her eyes upwards, scanning the dark recesses of the roof overhead, partly expecting to see cobwebs and rogue spiders: which then left her wondering if there were any spiders in spirit world. She had not noticed any other kind of wildlife – there were no birds in the skies or worms in the ground – and any spiders that were in spirit world were probably considerably larger and more powerful than those found in the living world. Keiko shuddered at the thought, drawing a small smile from Shizuru, as though she had already sensed what her friend was thinking. Keiko made to explain herself, feeling a little embarrassed that she had reacted the way she had for no apparent reason, but she stopped as she heard movement at one end of the corridor. Shizuru stood up, squinting through the darkness and Keiko joined her, watching as a lone figure started towards them.

"Hi girls!"

"Damn it, not this guy…" Shizuru grumbled under her breath as the ogre moved under a light in the corridor, revealing that he was Koenma's assistant George Saotome.

"He should be able to help us though, right?" Keiko asked.

"I guess that depends on what you mean by "help"…" Shizuru replied.

George stopped in front of them with a nervous grin – though, even in the short time she had known him since becoming spirit detective, Keiko had learned that almost all of George's grins were nervous – and he bowed his head in greeting.

"I heard you were here to see Lord Koenma?" he said.

"Yes," Shizuru sharply replied. "We've been waiting here for hours, what's the hold-up?"

"Well, Lord Koenma isn't actually supposed to be allowed any visitors," George replied, his nervous grin becoming an awkward one. "King Enma sent him into solitary confinement because he was with-holding information and he refused to perform an order given to him."

Shizuru nodded.

"We know that," Keiko said. "But a lot has happened since he left and we really need to speak with him."

"I can take you through, but you only have ten minutes," George offered.

Keiko tried to tell the ogre his offer was sufficient but her words were drowned out by Shizuru.

"Ten minutes? We've been waiting here for ten hours!"

"Has it been that long?" George asked.

"Just take us to Koenma!" Shizuru snapped back.

George obligingly turned and led the way back down the corridor. Keiko checked her watch, surprised to see that – although they had not been waiting to see Koenma for ten hours – most of the day had in fact passed since their leaving Ping Island. She hoped that Puu was still at the temple gates where they had left him – or parked him, as Yusuke sometimes joked – and that their visit with Koenma was only brief, as they had little time left to prepare for their journey to demon world the following day. She had been hoping to spend the day finding out as much as possible about demon world from Yusuke and Kurama and she had hoped to have an early night to get plenty of rest; but it was starting to look unlikely that she would achieve either goal.

George eventually led them to a room guarded by two larger ogres, who opened the doors to allow Shizuru and Keiko access. George remained behind and the doors closed after them.

"What, this is it?" Shizuru blurted out, looking about herself.

"I guess I always pictured the cells in spirit world prison being a little more…" Keiko began.

"Like a prison cell?" Shizuru offered.

"Yeah…" Keiko slowly replied.

They were in a room that was only a little smaller than Koenma's office and similarly decorated, only without the television and with a bed in place of the desk. Koenma, in his toddler form, was sitting on the bed, looking smaller than usual.

"What are you girls doing here?" he asked.

"We could ask you the same question," Shizuru boldly replied. "You must have done something pretty naughty for your father to ground you…"

Keiko suppressed a smirk, unsure if it was an appropriate time to be making and laughing at jokes.

"Yes, I've dug myself into a bit of a hole," Koenma reluctantly admitted.

"What do you mean?" Keiko asked. "Yasashi is back with the rebels and they're all going back to demon world; the problem is fixed, why are you being blamed and punished like this?"

Koenma slid off the edge of the bed and began pacing across the room with his hands held together behind his back.

"I was informed of the rebels' presence in human world some time ago," he confessed.

"Any particular reason why you didn't tell us about it?" Shizuru asked. "Or was figuring it out for ourselves part of our training?"

"I didn't tell anyone," Koenma replied without breaking stride. "Not even my father. I was told by one of my ferry girls who had passed over Ping Island–"

"Wait, you knew where the rebels were hiding?" Keiko interrupted.

"Yes, I knew where they were, I knew they were all there and I thought they had come looking for me. When they started addressing notes to Yukina I was surprised."

"Yusuke was right, you were keeping vital information from us all this time…"

Shizuru smiled and Keiko shot her a questioning look.

"Sorry kid," Shizuru said. "It just tickles me how shocked you are that Yusuke was right about something."

"Well, it's not often he knows more about something than I do," Keiko replied, trying to ignore the feeling of guilt creeping up on her.

"More to the point though Koenma, if you knew the rebels were in our world and you thought they were looking for you, why didn't you come clean when they took my brother prisoner?" Shizuru asked, turning her attention back to the young prince.

"Because I knew they wouldn't get anything out of Kuwabara or Yukina."

Shizuru's face dropped and a dangerous shadow passed over her eyes. Knowing the look only too well, Keiko quickly took a step forward and attempted to negotiate the situation into a more neutral place.

"But you sent the SDF to help when they took Hiei and Yusuke because then you realised it was serious," she tried. "And you probably thought Kuwabara could have freed himself – he's a lot stronger than those cat demons, right?"

Koenma made a small noise in the back of his throat and Shizuru clenched her fists at her sides.

"I'm starting to really appreciate some of the names Yusuke calls you behind your back, Koenma," she said tightly.

"I understand your anger Shizuru and I know it was wrong of me to act the way I did," Koenma plainly replied. "But releasing the rebel leader was never an option. Her return will cause chaos in demon world: she has quite a high price on her head, and probably doubly so now that it appears that she was strong enough to come back from death."

"You let your own personal feelings for her cloud your judgement," Shizuru said carefully. "Those rebels could have caused chaos in our world."

"But Koenma did send the SDF to help," Keiko began. "Remember Yasashi said that–"

"Yasashi said that the SDF allowed more demons to come to the living world to take out the rebels."

"I was afraid of that too," Koenma said. "So you see, my plan wasn't entirely emotionally motivated. I was trying to stop any more demons entering the living world."

"More demons would have come to the living world as soon as word got out that their best bounties were all conveniently located on one tiny island there," Shizuru pointed out.

Koenma stopped pacing and turned to face Shizuru and Keiko.

"Oh no," Keiko said. "I'm the least spiritually aware person of the group but even I know what that look means!"

"It was never Tora's jagan eye that was keeping the rebels' location concealed, right?" Shizuru asked.

"The cat demon conundrum is a very complicated one," Koenma quietly replied.

"There's nothing complicated about it," Shizuru denied, shaking her head. "This whole mess is your fault: you're the one who didn't give the rebels the land you promised them, you're the one who hid their leader all this time and you're the one who protected them when they came to the living world!"

"Yasashi gave a lot to spirit world," Koenma said. "During her time spying for spirit world, we learned just how wanted she and her followers really were in demon world and we in spirit world realised that it would be too dangerous to let the rebels live in the protected territory we had previously promised to them because strong demons would constantly be trying to reclaim the land and capture the rebels. We couldn't let that happen after we had worked so hard to take control of the land and rid it of demons."

"Oh great, so you lied to the cat demons too!"

Shizuru turned around, staring down at Keiko through wide eyes.

"Well really!" Keiko said. "This is getting ridiculous! He's lied to everybody! He was running around trying to keep everybody happy but all he's really done is made everything so much worse for everyone involved!"

"I'm not disagreeing with you," Shizuru assured her. "I guess I'm just pleasantly surprised to hear you saying what I'm already thinking."

"Okay," Keiko said, nodding her head and self-consciously tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "So, Koenma, if you couldn't give the rebels the land you promised them, why didn't you just tell them that?"

She turned to Koenma expectantly.

"I was under orders to keep up the pretence that we would pay off our best demon world spy," he explained. "I hated doing it, because by then I had grown quite fond of her. When she was attacked by Iruka and his bandits I sent the SDF to rescue her – which was also against my father's wishes. They brought her back to spirit world and we tried to heal her but it was obvious that she was beyond salvation. I asked her if she had any dying wishes and the things she said surprised me. And… I took pity on her and I convinced my father to let me hide her in spirit world. He allowed it on the condition that I erased her memories of her demon life and that, as soon as she had regained her strength, I would return her to her demon form and release her back to demon world."

"Another promise you didn't keep, right?" Shizuru flatly asked.

"In my defence Shizuru, Yasashi didn't regain her strength overnight," Koenma replied. "It was incremental. It was just little things, like how she could do things other girls in spirit world couldn't: her healing magic was exceptionally powerful, she could use the special spirit world items with ease and she even learned to use the spirit gun attack. And it wasn't bad that she was more able, because she proved really useful in a lot of our investigations of demon world, even without her knowledge of who or what she was. She is a great loss to spirit world and others will realise that soon enough."

"Now I understand," Shizuru said, her tone more even, her expression softened. "Now I get why Yusuke was suspicious of your presence in the living world: because he was right, it was unusual for you to spend so long there. You were hiding. You fled spirit world so that your father wouldn't make you hand her over. And you took with you the one thing spirit world needed to give the rebels back their leader."

Koenma gave Shizuru a hard look and Keiko glanced back and forth between them in confusion.

"What do you mean, Shizuru?" she asked.

"It seems you are even more perceptive than I ever gave you credit for, Shizuru," Koenma reluctantly admitted. "And the trait is even more powerful in you than it is in your brother, because you have the logical mind to follow ideas through to their conclusion."

"Flattery isn't getting you out of this," Shizuru told him. "It is true that you need her back to plea your case to your father?"

Koenma's eyes widened.

"Oh let me guess what look means," Shizuru drawled. "If she comes back here to spirit world, it's gonna get more complicated, right?"

"I'm surprised that she would even consider coming back here, for any reason," Koenma replied. "I know she can't be pleased that I didn't uphold my end of the bargain to give her followers the land I promised them."

"She thinks you traded that for her life," Shizuru replied. "She doesn't know you never intended to follow through with your side of the deal."

"…I'd prefer it if we kept it that way."

"Fine by me. Then I guess there's really only one more thing we need to discuss: Keiko and I are going to demon world with the rebels. We're gonna help them find a safe place to stay."

Koenma started to shake his head.

"You can't talk us out of this," Keiko said firmly. "We've already made up our minds."

"You shouldn't feel obliged to do this," Koenma said. "Just because she was your f–"

Koenma stopped short as the doors to his confinement were opened and one of the guards stepped into the room.

"Oh come on, that's never been ten minutes!" Shizuru snapped at him.

"I'm afraid I have to ask you to leave," the guard replied.

Keiko looked up at Shizuru, who nodded her head. Taking the gesture as a sign of agreement, Keiko started for the door, only stopping when she heard Shizuru's voice behind her.

"One more question," she said.

Keiko looked back to see Shizuru still standing in front of Koenma.

"They're not holding you here as a punishment for what you've done, they're holding you here to stop you from doing what you want to, right?" she asked.

Koenma gave a sorrowful sigh.

"My goodness girl, you're competing with Kurama for analytical skills today!" he said.

"They don't call me New Kurama for nothing," she said, smirking ironically. "We'll come back for you."

"Since I can't stop you, can I at least ask you to take Yusuke with you?" Koenma asked.

"I don't think we can stop him from coming," Shizuru replied. "Come on kid, let's go," she added, turning to Keiko.

Keiko waved a hand at Koenma before leaving the room with Shizuru following after her. In the corridor beyond they found George waiting for them, his hands clasped together and another nervous grin on his face. He led them back to the main temple doors and bid them goodbye there. Outside they found Puu reliably waiting for them despite the significant passage of time since they had left him.

"So, um, what was that you were saying to Koenma about him being held in that room because of something he wanted to do?" Keiko asked Shizuru.

"Isn't it obvious?" Shizuru replied as she climbed up onto Puu's back.

"Not to me," Keiko replied, accepting Shizuru's offer of her hand to help her onto Puu's back.

"If they let him go, he'd be joining his feline friend in her fight in demon world."


	14. Three Halves

**Chapter 14 – Three Halves**

"Is there anything else you're hiding from me? Because if there is, it would be in your best interests to come clean now, before we go to demon world and this whole matter becomes infinitely more complex."

Yasashi chewed on her lip in a way that Kurama had seen her do before – and yet he felt that it reminded him of something else. He felt as though he had seen the exact same gesture on someone else in the past few days when he had been attempting to pressure someone into confessing the truth. Had it been Yukina perhaps?

"Yes."

Kurama focused his attention back onto Yasashi, narrowing his eyes at her expectantly.

"Yes there is something else?" he pressed when she said no more.

"Yes, there is something else I haven't been completely honest with you about," she replied.

"Then now is the time to do so," Kurama told her. "Because until you do, I will not only hold onto your raspberry sundae, I will also hold onto the rest of these seeds I have taken from you."

Yasashi smiled, though her eyes looked suddenly very saddened.

"It's strange, I've heard you talk that way so many times before and I've always thought you sounded so cool and in control and clever," she said. "But it's an entirely different feeling to be on the receiving end of your threats."

"I can't help you unless you are honest with me," Kurama answered her. "And I do want to help you but I will need you to be honest with me."

"Okay… I can do that…"

Yasashi took a step forward, but only when she met Kurama's eyes did he become acutely aware of how close she was to him.

"It's about…" she began, her voice barely above a whisper. "Well I suppose it's about… If Superman is called Clark Kent when he changes into his human form, what is Wonder Woman called when she changes out of her… Less powerful form?"

"Diana," Kurama replied.

Yasashi smiled briefly.

"You didn't even hesitate," she said when she saw the curious look in Kurama's eyes. "Are you sure those comic books don't belong to you, Shuichi?"

"Please, no more games Yasashi," Kurama replied, keeping his voice as soft as hers was. "We have precious little time for frivolity now."

Yasashi chewed at her lip again and nodded.

"If Clark Kent and Superman had feelings for Wonder Woman, why didn't either Superman or Clark Kent ever have feelings for Diana?" she asked.

Kurama frowned.

"Are you asking me if I was attracted to you in your spirit form?" he asked.

"I maybe wasn't aware that I was a demon in disguise, but I don't think I was so different when I lived in spirit world," she replied. "But I don't remember you ever flirting with me when I was in my spirit body. Well – apart from that one time – which seems so awkward now when I think about it – had I known then what I do now – well…"

"My life as Shuichi is not eternal and your life in spirit world would never have been so either," Kurama reminded her. "One day I am destined to return to my life as Yoko just as you have returned to your life as Yasashi. I believe that, had it not happened now, you would surely one day have returned to your original form and we would have been reunited."

"I see. Then I only have one more question."

"Yes?"

"Did Wonder Woman ever kiss Clark Kent?"

"I don't see how that's relevant to the–"

Kurama's voice turned into a muffled noise of surprise as Yasashi's lips crashed into his in an awkward, urgent gesture that ended almost as quickly as it began. As she leaned back from him he stared at her unblinkingly, unsure if she had even meant to do what she just had.

"Wow," she whispered.

"I can do better…" Kurama faintly replied.

She frowned and he briefly wondered if he had overstepped the mark with his last words; but his concern shortly gave way to bewilderment when Yasashi swiped her thumb over his top lip, her head tilting as she did so.

"You have facial hair in that body," she commented as she retracted her hand.

"Yes I didn't shave this morning," Kurama replied. "It's one of the quirks of humanity."

"Demons can have facial hair too," Yasashi said.

"Most don't though," Kurama said. "Including me. But I digress: we no more have time to discuss facial hair than we do–"

Kurama was cut off once again when Yasashi silenced him with another kiss. When she held her lips against his and lightly touched her hands to his shoulders he allowed himself to relax outwardly, but inwardly he felt conflicted: back when he and Yasashi had both lived in demon world, between her reigning over a rampant rebellion and his leadership of a group of highly successful thieves, there was little time for the two of them to ever really get to know each other and, thanks to the enormous bounty on Yasashi's head and most of Kurama's fellow bandits wishing to cash it in, there was little opportunity for either of them to get any closer than the occasional sparring sessions they shared when they did cross paths. And, he thought, feeling both bitter and darkly amused by the irony, now was no different: in less than a day Yasashi would return to her old life in demon world and he would remain in the living world and even when he was able to visit his home world, it was unlikely that they would cross paths.

"Why are we doing this?" he asked through a sigh as she broke the contact again.

She had moved away, but she was still close enough that just the slightest movement from either of them would bring their lips together again.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Why are we torturing ourselves like this?" he asked. "We both know this can't be."

"Unlike you Kurama, I don't like to plan out the future in such detail," she replied. "I didn't think I would ever see you again after Iruka struck me down. Maybe we should both just be thankful that we were given one more moment together."

"I suppose it's unfortunate that neither of us realised who you were all this time you've been in spirit world."

Yasashi hesitated, giving Kurama a slightly strange look. He thought she wanted to say something more on the matter, but she forcibly changed her expression into a smile.

"Maybe this moment is the only one we were ever meant to have," she said instead.

"Maybe so, and as you are facing a tremendous challenge, we should spend the time we do have preparing," Kurama replied. "It's not just confronting the loyalists that you will have to contend with, you need to be fit to maintain your own and your followers' existence in demon world and that will require–"

Kurama stopped as Yasashi pressed her fingers against his mouth.

"I've waited thirty years to see you again," she said. "I don't think fate or anyone in demon world or spirit world or this world would begrudge us thirty seconds and just one more kiss."

Kurama tried to answer her but as soon as she had lifted her fingers from his mouth she moved in to kiss him again, moving her arms around his shoulders to enclose him into an embrace. Logically he knew that what was happening was neither productive nor prudent; but it was oddly satisfying to finally have Yasashi close and taking him a little more seriously, especially as he was still in the body of Shuichi Minamino, and so he closed his eyes, wrapped his arms around her waist and relaxed into the moment.

"Ooh, bow chicka wow wow!"

Kurama broke contact, trying to ignore the most delightful way Yasashi looked at him when she opened her eyes, turning his attention instead to the source of the noise, finding Yusuke and Tora standing a short distance away.

"Don't let us interrupt," Yusuke said, wiggling his eyebrows.

"We were just sparring," Kurama replied.

"Oh I can see that," Yusuke replied. "Because when you two spar, it's never about training, it's always about dancing, and making out, and flirting, and–"

"Yusuke, please…" Kurama cut him off.

"Hey, I actually was being helpful," Yusuke replied defensively. "I was trying to spar with the edgy side-kick here, but she's dragging her leg around like Quasimodo, so I was gonna take her back to the hotel and fix her up one of my specials: because Yukina's healing magic is great, but there's nothing my fish stew can't heal."

Kurama turned to Yasashi who gave him a sad smile before stepping back and sliding her arms from his shoulders.

"I'll help you back to the hotel, Tora," she said, looking over at her friend. "Food sounds good, and Yukina is probably tired of cooking for us all, so it would be great if you took a turn, Yusuke. You and Kurama go ahead, we'll catch up to you shortly."

Kurama wanted to argue Yasashi's words, but before he could think of a solid reason to dispute her decision, Yusuke was at his side and already bragging about his culinary talents. He reluctantly followed Yusuke back through the trees, leaving the two cat demons behind.

"Looks like he dropped something in his hurry to get his hands on your ass," Tora said once they were out of earshot.

She hobbled over to Yasashi's side and crouched down, retrieving a ball of string and a handful of seeds.

"Then our plan is one third complete," Yasashi said sadly.

Tora stood up again, holding out the items she had recovered. Yasashi removed her hands from behind her back, letting one drop to her side and holding the other up in the air between them. Tora grinned as her eyes landed on the pink and cream peony her leader had always prized.

"Alright!" Tora said. "We got the raspberry sundae back!"

"He was hiding it in his hair," Yasashi said before slipping the flower up one sleeve and then taking back her seeds and ball of string from Tora.

"Lucky for us he lacks originality, huh?" Tora replied. "Too bad you had to get your hands so dirty to get it back. Was it really awful getting that close to "Shuichi"?"

Yasashi took a step forward and grabbed a handful of Tora's vest. Tora's grin slowly faded as she saw the intense look in her leader's eyes.

"I need you to do two things for me, Tora," Yasashi said in a low voice that bordered on a threatening growl. "I need you to keep focused while we finish this and I need you to never miscall Shuichi or Kurama ever again."

"What about Yoko?" Tora asked, attempting a smile.

Yasashi's eyes darkened and Tora's smile vanished.

"Okay, I can do that," she said in a small voice.

Yasashi nodded and released her.

"Then let's make a start on part two of our plan," she said.

She started to walk on in the direction Yusuke and Kurama had left in, but stopped after a few steps when she realised that Tora was not following her. She turned her head to look back over her shoulder.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

Tora limped over to join her at her side, avoiding looking her directly in the eye.

"Hey, I'm… I'm really sorry about what happened when I first encountered you in your spirit form."

Yasashi made a small noise of acknowledgement, but Tora kept her eyes down.

"If I'd known it was you, I never would have… You know…" she said.

"You mean if you had known it was me, you never would have dragged me out of the air and called me a servant, not even worthy of being a hostage?" Yasashi asked.

Tora slowly lifted her eyes to Yasashi, grinning nervously.

"It's alright," Yasashi said with a smile. "I didn't want to be your hostage anyway. And you were right that I would have been of no use to you, back then I had no idea I was actually your superior; though if you'd come any closer to me, I would have used my baseball bat on you."

"Did I mention how great it is to have you back?" Tora asked.

Yasashi smiled and pulled Tora's arm around her shoulder, putting her own arm around Tora's waist and helping her to support her weight at the side of her injured leg.

"I missed you too," Yasashi told her as they started to walk on.

* * *

As Puu soared through the portal to the living world, Keiko shook her head.

"Really?" she asked. "You really think Koenma cares so much about Yasashi that he would go to demon world to fight?"

"He did it for Yusuke," Shizuru replied. "And I think he's burdened by guilt because he didn't uphold his end of the bargain spirit world made with the rebels."

"That's crazy," Keiko said, shaking her head again. "I can't believe Koenma is being held in a guarded room because nobody trusts him not to go to demon world to get involved in a demon problem. Yusuke was right: spirit world really is so messed up! And I can't believe they've locked up poor Botan too!"

When Shizuru did not reply after several seconds, Keiko turned to her, finding her looking straight ahead, her eyes thinned slightly and her jaw tense.

"We should have visited Botan while we were waiting to see Koenma," Keiko added. "She's probably really upset. It seems like they're blaming her for nothing: she didn't know what Koenma was up to, right?"

When Shizuru still did not answer her, Keiko began to grow concerned.

"Wait, did Botan know what Koenma was up to?" she asked. "It sort of seemed like they were at loggerheads after Yukina had her operation, like they were disagreeing about something bigger than whether or not Botan should be allowed to use her healing magic… Did Botan know all along? Did she want to tell us the truth but he wouldn't let her? Oh poor Botan, she must have felt so guilty! It must have been so hard for her, torn between her sense of duty and her sense of loyalty to her friends…"

"Keiko, this whole cat demon situation is very complex," Shizuru said quietly. "It's not over yet and Botan definitely had an important role in everything that's happened lately. I'm not entirely sure of how it all happened, but as soon as I figure it out, I'll fill you in on the details. Until then, I need you to trust me."

Keiko pulled a face at Shizuru, but Shizuru kept her eyes forward.

"You sound like Yasashi now!" she said, trying to lighten the mood. "Why wouldn't I trust you, Shizuru?"

"Because I'm going to ask you to do something and when I do, you're gonna think I'm crazy," Shizuru replied.

"Okay…" Keiko said slowly.

"I'm taking us back to your house."

"I thought we were going back to the island? It's only six o'clock, we still have time to spend a couple of hours with the cat demons to find out what things will be like in demon world."

"Now that I understand things a little better, our plans have changed."

"…They have?"

"Yes. I'm taking you home and I want you to pack everything you need and tell your parents you're leaving tonight."

"We're going to demon world tonight?"

"No, we're going to stay in a hotel on the other side of town."

"We are?"

"Yes. But first we both need to pack and then we need to stop off at the hardware store."

Keiko's face dropped.

"Okay, now I really am confused!" she said. "You really are sounding like New Kurama, and I really feel like New Yusuke over here: everything is going way over my head and I just want some straight answers!"

Keiko waited for an answer – any response at all – from Shizuru, but none came, and Puu shortly landed in the fortuitously empty baseball field near Keiko's house.

"Go pack," Shizuru said to her. "I'm going to my place to pack, I'll pick you up in my car when I'm done and we'll get the masks and then go to the hotel."

"Masks?" Keiko yelped as Shizuru leapt from Puu's back. "What do we need masks for?"

"I'll explain later," Shizuru called back up to her. "Can you remember all those talismans Kuroko taught us?"

"Yeah, I wrote them all down in my notebook," Keiko replied.

"Good, I'm terrible at remembering hard facts. This is why you and me make such a good team, kid."

Keiko watched Shizuru walk off, feeling even more confused than ever.

"Send Puu to the woods on the west side of the city," Shizuru called back over her shoulder. "We'll need him there for the morning."

"The woods on the west side?" Keiko called after her. "But that's the opposite side of the city that the harbour is on! Why are you sending him so far away?"

"We're staying in the Westhill Inn tonight, so he'll be close."

Keiko made a noise of confusion, but Shizuru was moving quickly and probably had not even heard her. She turned to look at Puu, who was watching her out of the corner of one eye.

"Do you know where to go, Puu?" she asked.

Puu cheerfully called out his own name and looked confident and so Keiko trusted that he did. She jumped off his back and stepped back as he stood up to leave. She pressed her hands to her hair at the sides of her neck, holding it down as Puu took off. She waited until he was out of sight before looking about herself, seeing that Shizuru had vanished too. And, standing alone in the middle of the diamond of the baseball field, Keiko found herself experiencing a very strange feeling: for the first time since becoming spirit detective she was filled with doubts that had absolutely nothing to do with her own ability to do the job asked of her.

* * *

Kurama tensed as Yusuke shouted out again.

"What are you doing?" he asked when Yusuke caught the strained look he was giving him.

"What does it sound like I'm doing?" Yusuke asked sarcastically, before yelling out the same strangled cry yet again.

"It sounds like you're attempting to mimic a turkey," Kurama told him.

"Puu is not a turkey, he's a noble eagle!"

Yusuke made the noise again and Kurama was relieved to hear Kuwabara snort an instant ahead of the involuntary smile that appeared on his own face.

"Something funny, Kuwabara?" Yusuke snapped.

"Puu's not an eagle, Urameshi," Kuwabara replied.

"Yeah he is!" Yusuke argued back. "Tell him, Kurama!"

Kurama held up his hands.

"Please, leave me out of this," he said.

"Yukina said Puu is a swan."

Yusuke glared at Kuwabara in a way that made Kurama slide along the wall he was sitting on to distance himself from what he sensed was an impending brawl.

"Puu is not a damned swan!" Yusuke insisted.

"But he has that long neck, and his head is kinda the same shape as a swan's," Kuwabara replied, seemingly unaware of the increasing danger he was in with every word he uttered.

"He's blue and he has ears!" Yusuke said. "How many blue swans have you seen that have ears?"

"None," Kuwabara replied.

"Exactly!"

"I haven't seen any blue eagles with ears either."

"Puu is my spirit beast, you idiot! He's a reflection of me! If he's a swan then that means I'm swanlike! Do you think I'm swanlike? Who the hell do you think I am over here, Princess Odette?"

"Who the heck is Princess Odette?"

"The swan princess!"

"…The swan princess?"

"From Swan Lake!"

"…What the heck is "Swan Lake"?"

"It's a ballet, you idiot!"

"…I didn't know you were into ballet, Urameshi…"

There was a short silence, during which Kuwabara looked unsure whether he was amused or concerned by Yusuke's confession and Kurama slid further away from the duo.

"I'm not into ballet!" Yusuke eventually recovered. "Keiko wanted to go so I took her to the dumb show for her birthday!"

"And you read the programme to find out what the lead character was called?" Kuwabara asked.

"Yeah, well, I wanted to know what the hell all the skipping about was supposed to mean!" Yusuke shot back.

"I just can't believe you paid money to watch men in tights, Urameshi."

"There weren't any men in the show!"

"Yeah there were! What about Prince Siegfried and Rothbart?"

Kurama snorted involuntarily as both boys fell silent and stared at each other in horrified disbelief.

"You went to the ballet too!" Yusuke said, pointing an accusing finger at Kuwabara.

"Yeah but I enjoy the poetic majesty of the dance!" Kuwabara replied.

"Oh yeah?" Yusuke yelled. "Well I only went because there were lots of hot women in frilly miniskirts doing the splits!"

"That's disgusting, Urameshi!"

"It's better than going because of the "poetic majesty"!"

"I have a very artistic soul!"

"Then why the hell were you laughing at me for going to the ballet?"

"Because it's not the sort of thing you would usually do!"

"I did it for Keiko!"

"But obviously you liked it too because you bought and read the programme and you remembered the characters' names!"

"So did you!"

"I never said I didn't like the ballet!"

Kurama stood up and put a hand on Yusuke's arm.

"As much fun as this newfound artistic rapport is to listen to, it's starting to distract from problem at hand," he said.

"I'm not some kinda metrosexual asshole who likes girly things!" Yusuke snapped at him.

"I never said that you were," Kurama assured him. "But the fact still remains that we have been here for the best part of half an hour and your spirit beast hasn't responded to you calling his name, your attempts to use telepathy or your wild turkey calls."

"Puu's not a turkey!" Yusuke responded.

"Regardless, he is still missing," Kurama replied.

Yusuke looked up at the sky and appeared to think about what Kurama had said.

"Keiko thinks Puu's an egret," the mazoku said after some consideration.

"Oh yeah, that makes sense," Kuwabara agreed. "I could see that."

"Egrets kick ass," Yusuke added.

Kurama contained a sigh of frustration.

"Can you think of a reason why Puu might not be responding to your calls?" he asked, hoping to keep Yusuke focused on the problem at hand.

"I dunno, but I'm pretty sure I'd know if something bad had happened to him," Yusuke replied.

"Maybe he's with Yukina," Kuwabara said.

"He would've come by now if he was still on the island somewhere," Yusuke said. "He must have left."

"Why would he leave?" Kurama asked.

"Maybe Keiko and my sister took him with them when they left."

Kurama and Yusuke both turned to Kuwabara, who was still sitting on the wall, his legs dangling down and his shoulders hunched over so that he could rest his elbows on his knees. With his head down and with both Yusuke and Kurama standing at his side, Kuwabara appeared not to notice the way they were both glaring at him.

"Keiko and Shizuru left the island?" Kurama asked. "When did they leave?"

"Pretty much right after they got here," Kuwabara casually replied. "Probably just as well though, right? Before they went, Keiko was talking about coming with us to demon world to fight the bad cat demons."

Yusuke turned to Kurama, who gave a small shake of his head to show that he was just as perplexed by what Kuwabara was talking about.

"Any reason why you didn't tell us they left?" Yusuke asked, turning back to Kuwabara.

"I thought they just went to find a toilet or something," Kuwabara replied. "Then when they didn't come back after an hour, I started to get suspicious."

"Well where the hell did they go?" Yusuke demanded.

"They can't have gone far: there was no boat for them to return to the mainland on," Kurama pointed out.

"Unless they took Puu," Kuwabara casually suggested. "Oh hey, maybe that's where Puu went."

Yusuke raised a fist above Kuwabara's head but Kurama quickly grabbed his arm to stop him from enacting his threat.

"Why would they leave?" he said when Yusuke turned to him questioningly. "When they came to the island with me this morning they seemed quite determined to stay. Something drastic must have occurred for them to change their minds so quickly."

"I can't believe they just took Puu!" Yusuke complained. "And they didn't even send him back!"

"Hey Urameshi, maybe you should start charging people for heron Puu."

Yusuke's face dropped.

"Was that meant to sound like "hiring Puu"?" Kurama asked.

"…It sounded way better in my head…" Kuwabara muttered.

"A valiant effort, but let's leave aside the avian and taxi themed puns for now," Kurama replied. "Do either of you have a method for communicating with Keiko or Shizuru?"

Kurama waited for a few seconds, watching Yusuke and Kuwabara exchange confused looks.

"Neither of you carry a mobile phone?" he pressed.

"What the hell would I need a mobile phone for?" Yusuke asked.

"Calling people when they take your spirit beast?" Kurama curtly replied.

"Hey, I'm a demon," Yusuke said. "And any time I need to find someone I already have two ways of finding them: communication mirror or Hiei's extra eyeball."

"And in Hiei's absence, do you have a communication mirror to hand?" Kurama asked.

Yusuke turned to Kuwabara, who shrugged.

"Don't look at me," he said. "I don't carry any of that stuff around any more."

"Okay, I have a mobile phone in my briefcase back inside the hotel," Kurama said.

"If you had a phone this whole time, why are giving us a hard time for not having one?" Yusuke asked.

"Do either of you know Keiko's or Shizuru's mobile phone number?"

Yusuke turned to Kuwabara again and Kurama sighed.

"This is getting us nowhere," he said tightly. "I suggest we all return to the mainland and find out where the girls are."

"They probably just went home," Yusuke said. "If we go looking for them they might start thinking they can come to demon world with us."

"Yeah, it's bad enough Yukina wants to go, but Keiko and Shizuru won't last five minutes in demon world," Kuwabara agreed.

"That is of course assuming that the girls haven't already gone to demon world in their inexplicable and unfounded zeal to be a part of this."

Kuwabara leapt to his feet on the wall and Yusuke rounded on Kurama.

"You don't think they actually went to demon world, do you Kurama?" Kuwabara asked.

"No way!" Yusuke added.

"The only way we can know for sure is to track them down," Kurama replied. "Which I suggest we do so immediately. Meet me at the beach, I will let the others know we are leaving for the day."

Kurama jumped off the wall but paused when he noticed the fixed shadow on the ground at his feet. He looked back over his shoulder to find out why Kuwabara had not left as Yusuke had.

"Well, if you get to go back and say goodnight to your girlfriend, it's only fair that I get to go back and say goodnight to Yukina," Kuwabara grumbled as their eyes met.

"Yasashi is not my girlfriend," Kurama said before starting back towards the hotel entrance.

He did not wait to find out if Kuwabara would follow, instead quickly searching out Yasashi, who he eventually located polishing off the remains of the fish stew Yusuke had made. She was sitting cross-legged on the ground and as she noticed his approach she froze, her mouth stuffed full of food and her hands clutching the pot by her chest protectively.

"This isn't about food," Kurama assured her.

She nodded and continued chewing.

"It appears the girls – Keiko and Shizuru – have gone missing," he explained.

Yasashi looked vaguely concerned, but not as much as Kurama had expected her to in light of how eager the new spirit detectives had been to join her cause.

"We're going back to the mainland to search for them," he added.

Yasashi swallowed the contents of her mouth and placed the pot down at her side.

"We?" she asked.

"Me, Yusuke and Kuwabara," Kurama replied.

She nodded and then got to her feet, wiping her hands on her clothes and then walking past Kurama. He turned to watch her go, silently wondering why she had ended their exchange so suddenly, particularly so as he was about to leave for the day, and the last two days they had shared small conversations before parting ways that he had been looking forward to continuing that one last day.

"Make sure you take this with you."

Kuwabara accepted his cat from Yasashi, nodding his understanding. Yasashi then walked back over to Kurama, stopping closely at his side.

"Before you go, could you spare me a minute?" she asked quietly.

"Of course," he replied.

He followed her into the hotel, feeling a little unsure when she led him far further into the building than seemed necessary before finally stopping.

"These last few days have been very strange," she said when she did stop. "I'm so grateful that you and all your friends have helped us and… I'm glad I got to see you one more time."

Kurama frowned.

"Everyone who came here chose to do so," he said. "And you will see me again tomorrow morning."

She smiled whimsically and Kurama felt slightly irritated.

"I will be coming back here tomorrow," he insisted. "I'm coming back with you. Nothing can stop me. And you know I won't be the only new member of your group."

"Kurama, sometimes even you don't know everything."

Kurama was unsure how to respond, as he had been sure that Yasashi was acting oddly because she thought his promises of help were false and empty, but she appeared to be implying something else was going to hinder his ability to live up to his words.

"I wonder what sort of fate Koenma will assign to me when I return to spirit world."

Kurama narrowed his eyes.

"Like you said, I won't survive this. I just wonder if he will consider all the work I did for him and be lenient."

Yasashi turned her back on Kurama and, as he saw her head tilt downwards, he thought he finally understood what she was implying.

"It won't come to that," he said firmly. "I won't let it come to that."

"Do you know how the rebellion started?" she asked, keeping her back turned and her head down.

"I know it started with you," he replied. "You were the first powerful female to be born into the cat demon tribe in centuries. You were always destined to change the structure of the tribe, one way or the other."

"It was me that started the rebellion."

"I know that. You didn't want to be Jagasame's slave wife."

"Tora was the only one who understood. She was the only one I could confide in. We planned it together: we would finish our training and then leave the tribe. We didn't care about any of the others. It was just the two of us. None of the others understood. They were all weak. They were allowed to live normal lives. Tora and I were ear-marked for Iruka and Jagasame from birth, and we were always treated differently by everyone else. It was only when we fled that things changed. Others followed us. Some came because they thought we were leading a rebellion, some came to attempt to capture us but then decided to join us once they realised how much better life could be away from the tyranny of the loyalists. Before we knew it, there was a whole clan of us running and hiding."

Yasashi turned to face Kurama again, smiling sadly.

"It's not quite the heroic story that gets told around campfires in demon world, is it?" she said.

"I thought you purposefully stood against Jagasame and called on those who agreed with you to follow you in a rebellion against him?" Kurama replied.

"I wish it had been gallant," she said. "But sadly it wasn't. The stories circulated regardless and soon my reputation became bigger than me. Intentionally or not, I started this Kurama. I have to finish it."

"I know what you're thinking and you're wrong."

"I awoke back in this body and I've found hardly any of the rebels left. For those who have fallen – by death or because they fell afoul of the loyalists' torture techniques – I have to do this. And that is why it's pointless for you to follow me."

Kurama moved closer to Yasashi, only stopping when she met his eyes.

"If you hand yourself over to the loyalists, they will not stop," he warned her. "Tora is almost as big a target as you are and once they have you, she will become their biggest priority. And once they have dealt with Tora – one way or the other – they will go after Chita. The little girls will be next."

"It'll never stop regardless of what I do," she replied. "At least this way I can control it from the inside."

"You're making a very big mistake."

"My only regret is that I…"

A strange look passed over Yasashi's features and when she caught Kurama watching her expectantly she suddenly forced a smile.

"It's not like they can ever really control me," she said. "Jagasame's old. He won't be around forever. And when he goes, I'll be the new tribe leader."

"You're fooling yourself if you think it will be that simple," Kurama warned her.

She kept smiling regardless.

"Clark Kent's not so bad," she said. "I could have… It's not so bad."

Kurama made to answer her but stopped short at the sound of Kuwabara yelling for him.

"You should go," Yasashi told him. "We all know how Kuwabara can get once he gets an idea in his head."

Kurama nodded.

"I will see you in the morning," he said.

He turned and made his way back out of the hotel, finding Kuwabara and Yukina waiting outside for him. Kuwabara began asking him about how they were going to cross the water but Kurama ignored him, continuing on towards the beach. He could hear Kuwabara and Yukina following him and that was good enough. He quickly reached his destination, finding Yusuke kicking a stone along the beach, his hands in his pockets.

"About damn time," Yusuke muttered as the others all joined him by the shore.

Kurama threw out a seed which again turned into a large upturned leaf. He leapt onto it and Yusuke followed; but Kuwabara hesitated.

"Come on, jump on already!" Yusuke shouted back at him.

Kuwabara turned to Yukina expectantly.

"I'm not coming with you," she said quietly.

"But you can't stay here by yourself with those crazy cat ladies!" Kuwabara replied. "Look what they did to me when they took me here!"

Yukina touched a hand to Kuwabara's arm.

"I'm sorry Kazuma," she said gently. "But I know that once Yasashi goes back to her home in demon world, I won't see her so often any more. This is my last chance to spend some time with my friend."

Kurama found Yukina's words oddly ironic, but blocked them out as Kuwabara accepted her excuse and threw himself a little awkwardly onto the leaf – which had drifted a little way out, making him have to jump quite far to reach his goal.

"Goodnight my love!" Kuwabara called out to Yukina as they waved at each other. "We'll be back in the morning, I promise!"

Kurama caught Yusuke staring at him and turned to the mazoku expectantly.

"He's pathetic," Yusuke muttered.

"Shut-up, Urameshi," Kuwabara muttered, keeping his eyes on Yukina and his hands waving in the air.

* * *

"Are you gonna tell me what's in the bags?"

Shizuru slid open the door to the balcony of their twin hotel room, stepping outside to light a cigarette.

"Have a look for yourself, kid," she said after her first drag.

Keiko moved over to the three bags Shizuru had thrown down onto the vanity table in the room: one from each of the three stores they had visited on their way to the hotel. She opened and peered into each one in turn, feeling increasingly confused as she went: the first contained a four pack of black marker pens, the second contained two dust masks and the third contained a feedbag for horses.

Keiko took a step back from the backs, catching a glimpse of her own reflection in the mirror at the vanity table, seeing that she looked quite pale, which, she felt, was appropriate, as she was feeling quite queasy and incredibly uneasy. She then turned to the glass doors overlooking the balcony, finding Shizuru standing at the edge of the balcony, the wind lightly lifting her hazel hair to one side, the smoke she was exhaling drifting in the same direction.

"Any particular reason why we need permanent markers, face masks and a feedbag?" Keiko called out to her.

"Did you pack your notebook with all the talismans Koroko taught us?" Shizuru called back in to her.

"Yeah, of course," Keiko replied.

"Bring it out here."

Keiko moved to her own bag, recovering her notebook and doing as Shizuru had asked. Shizuru took the book from her and quickly flicked through it, only hesitating two or three times before settling on one specific page.

"See this?" she said, turning the open page towards Keiko.

"The talisman for warding off fumes or smoke created with demon energy?" Keiko asked as she saw the symbol.

"Get the marker pens and draw this symbol on both the face masks and the feedbag."

Keiko slowly lifted her eyes to Shizuru.

"Why?" she asked.

"Because I have a hunch that you, me and Puu are gonna need protection from inhaling something tomorrow morning."

"Oh, for when we go to demon world? But Puu's accustomed to the air in demon world, why does he need protection?"

Shizuru pushed the notebook into Keiko's hand.

"I could be wrong, but in case I'm not, we need to take this precaution."

Keiko nodded, though she wished Shizuru would start making sense sometime soon.


	15. Birthright

**A/N:** Things get a bit rough in this chapter (hey, it's demon world, demons are a bit rough by nature).

* * *

 **Chapter 15 – Birthright**

Yukina sat up, stretching her arms above her head. All around her the cat demons were packing bags: she knew that they were leaving the living world that day, but she had not expected them to leave so early in the morning. When six of the cat demons started to walk around the back of the hotel Yukina scrambled to her feet, feeling suddenly wide-awake. She stumbled around a little before locating Yasashi, who she quickly hurried towards.

"Well, well, if isn't the little snowflake that just won't melt," Tora muttered as Yukina stopped in front of Yasashi.

"Why don't you go on ahead with the others, Miss Cheerful?" Yasashi said, rubbing her fist against Tora's head.

"Fine," Tora grumbled, hoisting up her own bag and shepherding the remaining cat demons on ahead of herself.

"We're leaving already?" Yukina asked Yasashi.

"We must," Yasashi replied. "Are you ready to go? You know you don't have to. If you have any doubts, now is the time to tell me, because once you enter demon world, once you are seen with us, there will be no going back for you."

Yukina nodded, bunching her fists beneath her chin.

"I'm absolutely sure," she said. "You've always done so much for me, this is the least I can do for you!"

"Yukina, I chose to play bodyguard to you when you were travelling to and from the living world," Yasashi told her, gently placing a hand on the ice maiden's shoulder. "It was always my decision and if I could do it all again, even knowing what I do now, I wouldn't have chosen otherwise. Though you should know my reasons weren't entirely altruistic: part of the reason I helped you in demon world was because I was always attracted to your cause. I knew only too well what it was like to be a woman who was hunted and was only safe amongst other women, and so an ice maiden on a special journey appealed to me."

"It's not just what you did for me in your demon life, Yasashi," Yukina replied. "You did so much for me in your spirit life too."

"I had no idea who I was or what sort of relationship we had when I was a spirit," Yasashi reminded her.

"But the fact that you didn't know who I was or about our friendship in demon world just makes the things you did for me in your spirit life all the more meaningful. It's a funny thing when you're weak… When you're not quite unconscious… First you lose mobility, lose control of your arms and legs… Your head gets too heavy to hold up… Your vision blurs and fails… But your hearing is always the last thing to fade, and often not at all."

"Yes, I understand that only too well. When I was dying in spirit world that's exactly the experience I had. My body was shutting down, everything was failing me, but my hearing never did: I heard every word spoken in my presence."

"Me too! And that's why I know you are a true and loyal friend, even when you don't know who I am!"

Yasashi removed her hand from Yukina's shoulder and tilted her head.

"Wh-what are you talking about, Yukina?" she asked.

"Koenma ordered you not to heal me after my operation," Yukina replied. "But you defied him and helped me anyway. You risked his wrath because your concern for my wellbeing was greater than your own sense of self-preservation! Just like how you pushed me through that portal and faced Iruka and his men alone!"

Yasashi looked down at the hand she had removed from Yukina's shoulder.

"You must know why Koenma didn't want me to touch you," she said quietly. "With a jagan eye, there was a risk that you would see through the disguise, that you would recognise me as Yasashi. My understanding of how Koenma put me into that body is that there was only two ways to break the spell and using a jagan eye alone ought not to have been sufficient: but you might have noticed the core of my demon energy still trapped inside of me and you might have recognised it. Koenma didn't want anyone to know the truth, because if they did, he knew the information would end up in the wrong hands and I would be taken back to demon world."

"But you didn't know that was why he was ordering you not to help me," Yukina pointed out. "You just thought he was punishing me because I had done something he didn't agree with. You knew that defying him could have had severe consequences for you, but you persevered! You were unafraid to risk everything for me and now I am unafraid to return that favour!"

Yasashi moved her eyes to Yukina's and smiled warmly.

"Then let's go," she said.

"Are the others waiting for us at the beach?" Yukina asked as they started to walk around the hotel.

"The rest of the rebels are on the beach and the others – Yusuke, Kuwabara and Kurama – will join us in demon world," Yasashi replied.

"What about Keiko and Shizuru?"

"If they want to come along I'm sure they will too! We're going ahead though, because we have a spy we have to rendezvous with."

"A spy?"

"Yes. One of the loyalists is in fact a double-agent: Chita's mother, Oyama, came to me not long after the rebellion began and she gave me Chita to take with me. She knew a cat demon as strong as Chita would be ear-marked as a bride for one of Jagasame's foot soldiers and so we made a deal with her: we would take Chita and raise and train her to be strong and free and in return, Oyama would meet with us occasionally and give us inside information on the loyalists. It's a strategy that has saved many lives in the past, avoided many bloody showdowns and has worked very successfully for over fifty years."

"Oyama must be very brave to risk so much."

"Yes she is. But we are also very careful when we meet with her. Perhaps that's something you could help us with? Would you like to go with Tora to meet Oyama?"

Yasashi and Yukina stopped on the beach and Yukina heard Tora let out a growl of annoyance.

"We usually only send one contact to meet with her, but it would probably be wise to send two in light of the fact that Iruka has no doubt spent these last few days sending every bounty hunter in demon world out to look for us," Yasashi continued. "You just have to keep hidden, meet with her, get the information and then come back to the rest of us."

"I can do that," Yukina said.

"Great!" Yasashi said with a big grin. "Hop on a leaf, the portal is just ahead in the water there. Tora and I will join you all shortly."

Yukina nodded and leapt onto one of the two floating leaves the other rebels were all already aboard. As the leaves began to drift away from the island, Yasashi pulled Tora around so that they both had their backs turned to the water.

"Meeting with Oyama is a dangerous task," Tora said sternly. "Has living in spirit world made you as pathetic as living in the human world has with Kurama? I go to meet with her because I'm strong and I go alone so that I don't draw attention to myself!"

"Isn't it obvious why I'm sending her with you?" Yasashi replied. "I expect you to take her back to a safe portal to the living world and shove her through it. She won't return alone once she's through: she'll probably go back to the Kuwabara house in the first instance and you already know what we did there last night."

"Right," Tora said with a grin. "Once she goes there, she won't be bothering us any more."

* * *

Keiko watched Shizuru tug at the straps of the feedbag covering Puu's beak. He let out a muffled moan of complaint but Shizuru was unsympathetic.

"Listen big blue, this might be uncomfortable, but it's way better than the alternative," she told him, her own voice muffled by the dust mask she was wearing.

She then leapt up onto Puu's back at Keiko's side and Puu stood up and then took to the air.

"Take us to Ping Island, Puu," Keiko shouted.

She felt that she had to shout to be heard over her dust mask. She still had no idea why she, Shizuru and even Puu needed to cover their airways with talisman-laden masks, but she had learned long ago that Shizuru had an uncanny knack for predicting future perils and so she had chosen not to question the matter any further. Instead, she simply sat back on Puu's luxuriously soft plumage and watched the city race by beneath them.

Puu usually flew high in the air to avoid being seen, but as it was so early in the day there was not such a great need for him to do so, something he seemed to instinctively be aware of as he was flying at a height that allowed him to clear tall buildings but still allowed Keiko a reasonably detailed view of the streets below.

"Oh my goodness, Shizuru!" she gasped as Puu swept over the Kuwabara household. "I didn't know you had such beautiful flowers in your back garden!"

"Damn it, I was hoping I was wrong!" Shizuru cursed.

Keiko frowned, Shizuru's angered frown and darkened eyes seeming inappropriate.

"What are you talking about?" Keiko asked.

"Let's put it like this: those flowers weren't in my garden yesterday afternoon when I packed my bags to go to the hotel," Shizuru replied.

"What?" Keiko echoed,

"In case it isn't obvious what that means, take a look at your own back garden."

Keiko peered over Puu's shoulder, gasping again as she got an aerial view of her own house, the back garden a carpet of pink and cream flowers. In the time it took her to contemplate how such an invasion of flora could have occurred, Puu took them over Kurama's house, where she saw a repeat of the exact same pattern: the back garden was awash with almost too beautiful pink and cream flowers.

"What are those things?" she asked, turning to Shizuru. "They must be demon plants, right? But how did they get there? And why are they only growing in my garden, your garden and Kurama's garden?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Shizuru asked.

"Well, if the team hadn't just spent the last three days making friends with the cat demons, I'd say this was their latest attack against us."

Keiko's face dropped – a gesture she was sure Shizuru probably did not really see due to the mask covering almost the entire lower half of her face – when Shizuru's eyebrows twisted in a way they usually only did when she was giving her brother an admonishing look for uttering something ridiculous.

"Oh no!" Keiko said. "This was the work of the cat demons? But why? We've been helping them! Why would they do this? And what do those flowers do? Shouldn't we go back? My parents are in my house! And what about your dad and Kurama's family?"

"As I understand it, the raspberry sundae has an immobilising effect," Shizuru replied. "At worst, they'll all be asleep until we can find a spiritually powered lawn mower to get rid of those damn flowers. Until then, we have to stay clear and we have to keep these masks on. I knew Yasashi was planning something like this: I could tell by the way she was behaving yesterday. She's done it with our best interests at heart, but I'm not letting her go into this without us. She planted those flowers because she knew you, me and Kurama would all go home for the night. She planned to keep us sleeping while she went back to demon world without us. The only question we gotta figure out the answer to now is what did she do to stop Yusuke, my brother and Yukina from following her?"

Keiko slowly shook her head, but Shizuru's eyes lost none of their determination.

"Sorry princess, I didn't wanna say anything last night because I really, really hoped I was wrong," Shizuru added.

"I don't understand why Yasashi doesn't want us to help!" Keiko replied. "Is it because she thinks we're weak?"

"No, it's not that," Shizuru replied. "She just doesn't want any more deaths on her conscience. The rebels are obliged to fight with her, but we aren't."

"It's kinda funny that she cares so much about our safety," Keiko mused. "Is it because we work for spirit world and she feels she knows us because of the time she spent in spirit world?"

"Something like that…"

Keiko nodded and turned her attention back to the view ahead, finding that they were passing over water, the familiar outline of Ping Island rapidly coming into sight. She was unsure if she was surprised or not when the island – which had previously always looked predominantly green on approach from Sarayashiki Harbour – was suddenly a glorious display of pink and cream.

"She planted the flowers here too!" she said. "Yusuke, Kuwabara and Yukina must be down there!"

"Then we have no choice," Shizuru said. "Puu, take us to demon world!"

"What?" Keiko yelped. "A-aren't we going to help them?"

"Do you know a way to disarm a demon plant?" Shizuru asked.

Keiko shook her head.

"Do you know a way to wake up someone who's under the spell of a demon plant?"

"We could take them away from the flowers?"

"Do you know how long they would take to wake up just by doing that?"

Keiko shook her head.

"Then we can't afford to take that gamble: we're going in."

"I'm not sure that's wise–"

Keiko's speech broke into a yelp of alarm as a roaring crack of thunder almost deafened her and a flash of lightning temporarily blinded her. As she tried to blink away the imprint of glaring light she noticed that the air reeked of rotting flesh, blood and bile, and the feeling she had learned to detect that alerted her to the approach of the bat demons Kuroko had used to train her was suddenly in over-drive as she could feel too many energies to count or categorise.

And when her vision finally cleared, Keiko saw that Puu was flying through a red sky with deep, inky blue clouds. She turned to Shizuru, finding her looking pale and sweaty, but her eyes shining with a determination Keiko was sure she had never seen before.

So this, she thought to herself, was the beginning of their adventure in demon world.

* * *

Yukina dropped down at Tora's side and the two pressed their backs against the hollow in the rocks that lined the road, both holding their breaths and holding still as the patrol vehicle slowly rumbled past. As the large white bug-like vehicle passed by, Yukina could not help but wonder if Hiei was on board: working the border patrol was his job in demon world after all. She turned her head as the vehicle continued on the road, which arced around, affording them a view of the vehicle even from their concealed location. She could not contain the gasp that left her as she saw just how large the patrol vehicle actually was, her shock so great that she was able to entirely ignore the glower Tora shot her for making a noise. When Yukina spotted a demon with an enormous nose onboard the vehicle who appeared to be looking directly at her as he sniffed at the air she gasped again and she did not hesitate to follow Tora as the cat demon dived off the rocks and into the thick of a nearby bed of rushes. She then copied Tora, crawling on her belly through the plants, trying to ignore the squelching of her elbows and knees in the marshy ground.

When they finally got clear of the rushes they hesitated and Yukina waited for Tora to check with her jagan eye before both stood up. Tora cocked a half-smirk as she ran her eyes over Yukina. Yukina looked down at herself.

"I don't look any muddier than you do," she concluded, lifting her head to look at Tora again.

Tora looked down at herself and mewed in disgust.

"We're almost there," she said. "We're meeting Oyama at the edge of Hashibami Orchard. I took us here by the shortest route, but we won't be going back the same way – just in case we were followed – rather we'll take the longer way around."

Yukina nodded her understanding of Tora's plans, only vaguely curious as to why the cat demon smiled when she mentioned taking a different route back.

They continued on in silence, the orchard soon coming into sight: it was located on a jutting plateau of landscape with steep, cliff-like drops either side of the trees. Tora was obviously familiar with the location however as she effortlessly found a footpath up the cliff, which she scaled with unrelentingly brisk strides that Yukina struggled to keep pace with. At the summit Yukina was a little out of breath and sweating, but she feigned nonchalance when Tora threw a condescending look over her shoulder at her. They moved just inside the shelter of the trees but still close enough to the edge that they were afforded a dizzying view of the landscape far below them. They continued that way until they were halfway along the ridge, whereupon Tora turned sharply left and dashed into the thick of the trees. Yukina had to sprint to catch up to her, reaching her as she stopped in a small clearing.

Tora let out a small, stuttering, strangled noise of despair and Yukina looked up at her to see why: she found the cat demon unharmed but her mouth was slightly open and her pupils were contracted and staring at something ahead of and above her. Yukina followed the direction she was staring and found herself making the same noise as Tora had as she caught sight of what had disturbed her so.

At one side of the clearing a crude crucifix had been erected, and a badly wounded cat demon looking a lot like Chita was hanging from it, her lifeless eyes staring directly at Tora.

"Bastards!" Tora said breathily.

She edged closer to her fallen comrade, looking about the clearing as though she expected to find something nearby.

"Who did this?" Yukina asked when she eventually found her voice again.

"Who do you think?" Tora spat. "The cross is made of bamboo: this is Iruka's handiwork!"

"But – how did he know that Oyama was a spy?" Yukina asked.

"I don't know," Tora said. "But this is bad; this is really, really bad! Without Oyama, we have no way of knowing what the loyalists are planning or where they are. And look at what they did to her!"

Yukina forced herself to look up at the rebel spy, wincing as she saw the bloody wounds covering various parts of her body.

"This isn't just them taking out our spy, this is them sending us a message," Tora said. "This is what they'll do to any of us that they capture: and that includes you snowflake if you stay with us!"

Yukina gasped, quivering involuntarily as she once more ran her eyes over Chita's mother.

"You think this is a game, don't you?" Tora spat, turning on Yukina. "I know you do! Everybody does! It's because Yasashi is so light-hearted: nobody understands how terrible our dilemma is because they just see our leader enjoying her life and they think it's easy for us! Well it's not!"

"I never said that it was!" Yukina yelped. "Please, I know it's not easy for you!"

"You can't even begin to imagine what it's like!" Tora snarled. "This will happen to at least one more of us before this war ends."

Tora turned to face Chita's mother again.

"This is how it is when you make a stand against Jagasame," she declared, holding her hands up towards the crucifix. "Accept a life as their subjugated slave or die a slow, painful and undignified death!"

"Too bad you seem to prefer the latter."

Tora froze – which, Yukina thought, was the worst reaction she could have had – at the sound of the rough voice addressing her; and an instant later something whistled through the air and Tora's body jerked, blood spurting upwards from one side of her. Yukina looked down to see that a length of bamboo had been impaled clean through Tora's right leg thigh and into the ground behind her, effectively holding her in place. Yukina could not help but notice that it was Tora's good leg that had been attacked, her free leg being the one that was still not fully healed from the effects of the sinning tree.

Once her initial shock had passed, Yukina took a step forwards to help Tora, but she stopped again as a shadow slid out of the trees behind Chita's mother, soon taking the form of a very familiar male cat demon.

"Well this is convenient," Iruka said with a smile. "My betrothed has come to me and she's brought me a little wedding present: a jewel factory…"

Iruka gave Yukina a hard glare before turning his attention back to Tora, who was trying to remove the bamboo from her leg with shaking hands.

"It was very kind of Yasashi to give us three days to prepare for your arrival," Iruka told her. "It allowed us sufficient time to weed out the informant we knew was amongst our ranks."

He flicked a thumb at the deceased cat demon at his side.

"Too bad you lack imagination, Tora," he continued. "You always met her in the same place and you always came alone, so setting this trap was too easy. This time I see you did bring a friend, but it's not like that pathetic little creature is any challenge. There's two of you, but that's alright, I have two hands."

Tora snorted out a bitter laugh.

"Not any more you don't, or did you forget?" she said, her voice strained. "Yasashi took one of your arms the last time we met!"

"That's right, she did," Iruka agreed. "But the fortunate thing about living in Mukuro's territory is that the best bio-mechanic in demon world lives here."

Tora frowned at his words but she did not have to wonder at his meaning for long as he threw open the cloak he was wearing, revealing that he had acquired a mechanical arm in place of the one he had lost.

"It takes one day for the operation, one day for the arm to become functional and one more day to master its use," he said. "You must remind me to thank Yasashi for giving me those three days when I see her next: which should be quite soon."

"Yeah, when she comes to kill you," Tora growled back.

"I find it hilarious that Yasashi even thinks she can launch an attack against the loyalists," Iruka casually replied. "We have increased our number – because the women of our tribe who stayed loyal understand that their role is as mothers to future soldiers – and your number has depleted pitifully: there are only eight of you left."

"Ten," Tora said. "There are ten of us!"

"Oh I'm sorry, I wasn't aware that you were counting the little children. Those are Kujira's children, aren't they? I remember the day Kujira realised his daughters were powerful, the day he had their names added to the roster of worthy women: it was the same day his wife slaughtered him, took the children and fled to join your pathetic group."

"The only way you – or any of the other loyalists – will ever get their hands on those children is over my dead body!"

"That could be arranged: be careful what you wish for. But I don't think I need to kill you. I think we can come to some sort of arrangement. How about you accept your fate and take your rightful place as my wife? If you do that, I'll agree to make sure those little girls aren't hurt when they are captured."

"How about I just kill you right here and now?"

"I'd like to see you try."

"Oh don't worry, I intend to. I'd sooner die trying to kill you than become your wife!"

"You dying isn't really an option, Tora."

Iruka began to slowly walk around Tora and Yukina took a wary step back, keeping her eyes on him carefully as he moved.

"You really only have two options left," he continued. "Either you peacefully accept your fate or I take you by force."

"Ha!" Tora sneered, her hands finally finding the strength to create a small crack in the bamboo holding her in place. "The hinterlands are miles from here. Even with your super new mechanical arm you couldn't carry me all that way without me tearing you apart!"

Iruka started to laugh. At first, it was just a quiet chuckling, a deep, chesty sound, but it shortly became a crescendo of maniacal laughter that made Yukina clench her fists and tense instinctively.

"You misunderstand, you silly little girl," he eventually said as he once more stopped in front of Tora. "When I said "take you by force", I wasn't referring to my dragging you back to the hinterlands."

Tora turned a distinct shade paler and her fingers loosened their grip on the bamboo spear.

"How useful will you be to the rebellion with two badly wounded legs and carrying my child?"

Yukina cried out as panic overtook common sense and she launched herself at Iruka. He swatted her aside with his new arm, sending her flying through the air until her back collided with a tree and she slid to the ground; but she was on her feet as soon as she reached the ground and running at him again as quickly.

"Well this is cute," he said, catching her by the throat and lifting her from the ground.

Yukina's hands grabbed at his wrist as metal fingers clamped into her neck and her breathing became strained and wheezing.

"I always thought the women of the ice village were incapable of feeling any sort of emotion," Iruka said as he watched her struggle against his grasp. "But it almost looks like you care, it almost looks like you understand the concept of loyalty. It almost looks like you want to help this pathetic wretch."

"Tora's not a pathetic wretch!" Yukina said, her voice higher in pitch and strained. "She's a cat demon, just like you, and she has just as much right to live in the hinterlands as you do! It's her home and if you won't share if peacefully, you bring war upon yourself and your own followers!"

"Ooh, tough words for a tiny little E Class demon whose life currently, literally, rests in my hand…" Iruka growled, tightening his hold as he uttered his last word.

Yukina coughed out, closed her eyes and swung her legs about as desperation began to set in, the lack of oxygen beginning to make her head buzz. When her legs and arms began to feel weak, she found herself reminded of the conversation she had shared with Yasashi earlier that morning on Ping Island about losing consciousness; and it all seemed sickeningly ironic. She opened her eyes and found her vision was starting to become hazy, but she could still see enough to see that Tora was trying desperately to power up: though apparently she had been suffering in silence from the effects of the venom of the sinning tree as she was doing little more than making herself sweat and hyperventilate.

"Damn it Iruka, let her go!" Tora shouted out, her voice still clear to Yukina, who again remembered how Yasashi had agreed with her that the sense of hearing was always the thing to fade when the body started to fail.

"Don't look so worried, sweetheart," Iruka said, turning his head towards Tora. "I'm not gonna kill her, she's too valuable alive. I'll take her back to the hinterlands and we can use her to generate more money, which will allow us to offer even higher bounties for Yasashi's head."

"You won't get away with this!" Yukina said, her voice barely audible despite her putting all her effort into speaking.

"Actually, I will," Iruka replied. "We loyalists out-number and out-class you all. And, over the last thirty years, we've perfected the art of torture: we now have a much higher success rate when it comes to breaking and converting rebels than we did before. I'll have no difficulty getting tears out of you. In fact, I think I could probably get some out of you right now."

Iruka grabbed his real hand onto a nearby tree and Yukina renewed her efforts to escape his hold as branches began grabbing at her: but her attempts were in vain as she shortly found her arms and legs held in place. Iruka released her throat and she gladly allowed herself to recover the air her body had lost, watching in weakened horror as Iruka swung his mechanical hand at Tora, ripping the shoulder from her vest.

"Let's see how much you're worth, Tora," he said with a dark grin. "Let's see how many tears she cries when she watches me claim you."

He leaned over Tora and Yukina closed her eyes and took a deep breath and fought with all she had: she tried to free herself and, despite her bandana still being in place, she opened her jagan eye, hoping that she might be able to once more access the more powerful form she had accidentally transformed into the day before. When all her attempts failed, Yukina became filled with self-loathing as she realised that Iruka was going to get exactly what he wanted because she could feel tears threatening.

 _Hey, snowflake._

Yukina paused, the sound of Tora's voice clear in her mind. At first she was unsure why she had heard it, but then she realised that her efforts had at least achieved something: she had opened a telepathic link between her mind and Tora's.

 _Lucky you figured out how to use your jagan, because I don't have the strength to use mine right now._

Yukina drew in a shuddering breath.

 _I've been storing up what little energy I do have left. I have just enough for one worthwhile attack._

Yukina concentrated harder and sent a reply back to Tora.

 _Use it to disable Iruka!_

 _No. I'm going to use it to free you. You won't have long once you're free, you must flee. Go directly back to Yasashi and tell her what happened here. Tell her our spy is gone. Tell her to get away from here._

Yukina opened her eyes sharply and saw Tora looking up at her with sad eyes. She quickly shook her head but Tora simply nodded, lifting one hand to her chest and clenching it into a fist. Yukina tried to tell her to stop, tried to tell her to conserve her energy to heal herself and to save herself, but in her panic she had closed the link between them and her efforts were in vain: an instant later, Tora punched a fist over Iruka's shoulder, a blast of energy leaving her hand and colliding with the tree holding Yukina. As Iruka mocked Tora for her poor aim – apparently assuming that she had been trying to punch his face – Yukina dropped to the ground, landing silently and undetected behind Iruka.

Yukina looked up at Iruka – who was as tall as Kuwabara and at least as broad in the shoulders – her mind blank as she watched the back of his head. He lifted Tora's free leg in one hand and reached the other hand towards her midsection and Yukina suddenly felt the same rush of power she had felt the day before.

Before the blankness had faded from her mind, Yukina found herself airborne, a blue glow illuminating her suddenly green right arm and forming a point an instant before it collided with Iruka's back. He stumbled forwards and for a brief moment Yukina found herself attached to his back, the moment only ending when he roared out in pain and swung around, throwing her from himself with the momentum of his action. She fell and rolled over, standing up to see that she had formed a blade of ice over her hand that was crackling with the blue energy of her ice powers and also a red energy she had never witnessed before. Turning her attention back to Iruka she could see that she had stabbed right through him from the centre of his back to the front of his chest just inches below his heart.

He met her eyes, spitting out a mouthful of blood and then baring his teeth at her.

"I'll make you pay for that," he growled.

"Run away!" Tora cried. "Get out of here! Don't let him catch you! You can't fight him, he's too strong! Go! You have to tell Yasashi about Oyama!"

Yukina shook her head and raised her arm, still encased in the blade of ice.

"Didn't think I'd ever meet anyone more reckless than Tora," Iruka said.

"Being reckless is a family trait," Yukina replied.

Iruka frowned but Yukina did not hesitate to find out why. She started towards him and, as though the new form her body had taken somehow made him move in slow motion, she saw the cat demon aiming a fist at her head and she was able to duck out of his range and swipe her bladed arm across his gut. He doubled-over to try to avoid her attack but she still managed to inflict a glancing blow that tore clothing and skin; but in the moment after her attack she failed to detect Iruka's mechanical fist above her head, only registering it an instant before it collided hard with the small of her back and sent her crashing into the ground face-first. As soon as her body had completely landed she felt Iruka clawing at the hair at the back of her head and he lifted her up by it. She winced against the pain, trying to put her arms out to help support her weight but then quickly realising that she was in danger as she saw him drawing back his metal hand and aiming it at her face.

Yukina froze when an apple smacked off the side of Iruka's head, his face at first looking as confused as she felt. Although Yukina remained totally perplexed, Iruka quickly became enraged, turning his head towards the direction the apple had emerged from.

"Hey puss in boots, why don't you pick on someone your own size?"

Yukina smiled in spite of her predicament.

"Who the hell are you?" Iruka snarled.

"I could tell you something really cliché like "I'm your worst nightmare", but I'll just let my fists answer you."

Iruka released Yukina and she quickly caught herself on her arms, pushing herself up onto all fours to watch as Shizuru walked into the clearing, her eyes fixed onto Iruka.

"You're a human!" he spat at her.

She smiled, reaffirming her grip on her brass knuckles. Iruka lifted an arm as though to attack her but shortly cried out and fell forwards as something mercilessly smacked into back of his left thigh. As he fell Shizuru swung her fist at his face, her blow taking him from his feet in blaze of white light. As he fell, Yukina saw Keiko standing behind him, her kendo stick still hanging in the air at the point where it had hit him.

"Ladies," Shizuru said, nodding at Yukina and then Tora. "Hope you don't mind if we crash this party."

A/N: "Hashibami" means hazel(nuts) and it is also the name of a company that makes handbags that predominantly feature leopard print designs. Why the latter definition is relevant should be obvious, as for the former, it is my nod to the place where Winston and Julia go to escape the watchful eye of Big Brother (in the shade of hazel bushes) in the novel 1984.

Oyama(neko) means Lynx and it's (almost) an anagram of yo mama…

Kujira means whale, because, y'know, Life Aquatic references and all…

And I'm just going to go ahead and say there was a major piece of foreshadowing at the start of this chapter during the conversation between Yukina and Yasashi – more particularly, there is what will soon be an obvious discrepancy in Yasashi's speech that opens with "you must know why"… This is me setting up something that happens much later with Hiei – who is, thanks to a new twist in the tale, now one of the most prominent characters in the last two parts of this story.


	16. The Hunted

**Chapter 16 – The Hunted**

"After all, we can't let you have all the fun."

The look of confidence on Shizuru's face was enough to give Yukina the strength to leap to her feet.

"Are you okay?" Keiko asked Tora.

"Don't worry about me, worry about him," Tora replied, nodding her head at Iruka. "He'll kill you all for this!"

"I don't think so," Shizuru said.

"No, she's right," Iruka growled, slowly rising to his feet once more. "By the time I'm finished with you, you'll wish I'd been as lenient on you as I was on her."

He pointed at Oyama to demonstrate his point: Yukina, Keiko and Tora all looked up at her then, but Shizuru kept her eyes on Iruka, her confidence unflinching.

"Nice new piece of bodywork you got yourself there," she said, nodding her head at Iruka's mechanical arm. "Where did you pick that up: at a bad armoury store?"

"You've got a big mouth," he replied.

"Yeah, but unlike you, I can back it up."

"And you're very confident for a human woman in demon world."

"You know your little male chauvinist pig act is getting really old really fast."

"And I'm getting really tired of all these "feisty, independent women" I keep having the misfortune of running into."

"If you don't like running into women like that, why are you chasing the rebels?" Keiko asked.

"Yeah, seriously," Shizuru agreed. "Your logic's not exactly sound. What's wrong, did you snort some bad catnip?"

Iruka turned his head to Keiko, eying her over briefly.

"I might keep this one," he concluded. "She's got a nice ass for a human."

Keiko's eyes briefly illuminated with rage and she passed her kendo stick to her left hand, swinging her right hand at Iruka's face. She connected with a slap without accessing her spirit energy, but she hit him hard enough to cause his head to snap around. He recovered almost immediately and lunged at her but Shizuru rushed at him, goring him to the ground. Pinning him flat on his back, she began punching at his face, using both fists despite only having brass knuckles on one hand. She managed to get in several blows before he caught both of her fists in his hands and sat up, throwing her off to one side. He quickly got to his feet and started towards Tora, but Keiko intercepted him with a smack of her kendo stick to his midsection, followed by an upwards whack of the stick to the underside of his chin. She tried for a third shot but he caught her stick in his good hand and grabbed her shirt with his mechanical hand, hoisting her up and throwing her across the clearing.

Iruka continued towards Tora, grabbing one end of the bamboo spear impaled in her leg. Yukina started to charge at him but he had recovered his weapon and turned on her before she reached him. With her newly heightened sense of movement she was able to dodge to one side as he threw the spear at her, but she was not quite quick enough to avoid harm, the spear slicing into her upper right arm as it passed her. She fell to the ground beside Keiko and Iruka rounded on Shizuru, who was back on her feet.

"What are you all doing?" Tora cried.

Yukina turned to her, finding that she had fallen into an awkward sitting position, her wounded legs askew ahead of her.

"Get out of here! He's too strong!" she said.

"I already told you, spunky kid, we're not gonna let you have all the fun," Shizuru told her.

Iruka lunged at Shizuru and she leapt back from his reach, managing to connect with a kick to the side of his head. He caught her leg as she tried to lower it and pulled it around, sending her spinning around before lunging at her again. He caught her arms from behind and pounced over her.

"Shizuru!" Keiko screamed when Iruka's teeth bit into her shoulder.

Shizuru cried out and Iruka released her, allowing her to stumble away from him. He looked over at Yukina, who was pressing a hand to the bloody gouge on her upper arm and then at Keiko, who had suffered a gash to her shin when she had landed.

"Looks like I've now got plenty of good places to plant some of my more lethal demon plants," he said with a grin.

"Like hell you do!" Shizuru said, jumping at his back.

She caught her arms around his neck and hung on, trying to choke him but he reached his mechanical hand over his shoulder and pulled her from his back, throwing her across the clearing as though she were a rag doll. When she landed limply Yukina leapt to her feet and Keiko was quickly up at her side. Iruka started to laugh at their response but neither wasted time in running at him. They both ran past either side of him, Yukina swiping her ice blade along one side of his neck and Keiko launching herself off of a tree stump to bring her kendo stick down at an angle against the opposite side of his head. They stumbled to a halt at the other side of him and turned around, both first noticing the look of utter disbelief on Tora's face.

Tora slowly and shakily rose to her feet, limping pitifully forwards until she reached Iruka's feet. She stared down at his fallen form for several seconds before looking up at Yukina and then Keiko.

"Wow," Keiko said, taking a shaky step back. "He's really bleeding a lot. I can't even see his head!"

"You took his head off," Tora flatly replied.

"Is he dead?" Yukina asked, peering down at the blood pooling around Iruka's neck.

"H-his head is over there!" Keiko said, pointing over Yukina's shoulder.

"Is he dead?" Yukina asked again.

"I'm not an expert on cat demons," Shizuru said, hauling herself to her feet. "But I don't think he's going anywhere fast without a head."

Tora looked around all three girls.

"I can't believe you killed him…" she said quietly.

"He was the bad guy though, right?" Keiko asked.

"I can't believe you killed him," Tora said again.

"I didn't think I'd cut him deeply enough," Yukina said, looking down at her arm to see that her ice blade had gone and her skin had returned to its normal colour once more.

"I can't believe you killed him!" Tora said.

"Well what did you expect us to do?" Shizuru asked her.

Tora turned to her, her mouth agape and her eyes wide and unblinking.

"Not harbouring any regrets that you didn't accept his charming and romantic marriage proposal are you tiger?" Shizuru asked her.

"I can't believe the three of you came here and killed Iruka," Tora said, looking around all three girls. "N-nobody's ever done anything like that for us before… Nobody's ever taken on one of Jagasame's top men – least of all Iruka – to help one of us… You really are on our side…"

"I can't believe I hit him so hard I knocked his head off!" Keiko said, looking down at her weapon in amazement.

"I think it came off because I cut him so deeply too," Yukina told her. "We both did it."

"Hey, don't be taking all the credit over there," Shizuru said to them. "I softened him up for you."

Tora let out a short, awkward laugh before falling into the same awkward sitting position she had landed in after Jagasame had removed his bamboo spear from her leg.

"I've never killed anything before…" Keiko said quietly.

"He's killed so many of the rebels," Yukina said to her. "And he almost killed Yasashi and he tried to kill Tora with the sinning tree. We had no choice. If we hadn't killed him, he would have killed us."

"So… What do we do now?"

Keiko looked around the others expectantly.

"Well I suggest we try to fix ourselves up as best we can," Shizuru suggested. "Yukina, can you help us out with your healing powers?"

"Of course!" Yukina agreed.

"We should take Iruka's weapons," Tora added.

"What is it with you cat demons and taking weapons off of corpses?" Shizuru asked her.

"His bamboo spear is his signature weapon, he should have a selection of seeds we can use and I know he carries some seeds that none of the rebels have been able to find for decades," Tora replied.

"Okay…" Shizuru said slowly. "Then I guess there's only one more thing to take care of: what's the correct protocol for respecting the dead here in demon world?"

Keiko and Yukina screwed up their faces at Shizuru in confusion but Tora nodded her head in understanding.

"We should take Oyama back with us," she said. "The other rebels will arrange a proper ceremony to honour the sacrifice she made for us."

Shizuru nodded.

"Then Yukina, you see to Tora first – since she can't even stand up for more than ten seconds without falling on her ass – and Keiko you help me get this girl down and covered up a little better," she said.

Keiko and Yukina nodded and both started in the directions they were needed.

"Hey, snowflake?" Tora said as Yukina knelt down beside her. "Thanks for not running away. And… I guess Yasashi was right about you."

Yukina smiled gently.

"And you," Tora continued, turning to Shizuru. "What's your name?"

"Shizuru," Shizuru replied.

"Right," Tora said with a nod of her head. "Shizuru. Thanks for all your help. And…"

"She's Keiko," Shizuru offered when Tora pointed at Keiko.

"Keiko?" Tora said.

"Yeah?" Keiko asked, turning to face her fully.

"Iruka was a bastard," Tora said solemnly. "Don't feel bad about what you did."

Keiko nodded.

"Iruka was a bastard," Shizuru said. "But I think we can all agree that he was right about one thing."

Tora, Yukina and Keiko looked about each other, exchanging confused looks, before turning back to Shizuru expectantly.

"Keiko does have a really nice ass," Shizuru said with a smirk.

Tora smiled and shook her head.

"Now I understand why Yasashi holds you in such high regard," she said.

"We hold Yasashi in very high regard too," Yukina told her. "She's the reason we're here."

Tora turned to look at her, staring at her in a way that made the ice maiden hesitate to commence her healing duties. Tora opened her mouth as though she intended to say something, but a moment later she leaned over and threw her arms around Yukina, grabbing her into a crushing embrace.

"Well isn't that nice," Shizuru said, turning to Keiko. "New Hiei made a friend."

Keiko tried to smile but knew that she had failed.

"Don't worry kid," Shizuru assured her. "We'll be okay."

"But…" Keiko began, glancing back and forth between Iruka's head, his body and the deceased cat demon suspended on a crucifix.

"It's demon world, sweetheart," Shizuru said, drawing Keiko's attention back to herself. "What did you expect?"

Keiko nodded.

"You're right, I know," she agreed. "It's just that it feels weird to be here like this when Yusuke and the others are all… Asleep."

Shizuru looked down at Tora, who immediately looked guilty.

"I'm pretty sure spunky kid here will help us out with waking everybody up once we're done in demon world," Shizuru said.

Tora nodded and Shizuru turned from her, starting towards Oyama.

"Call Puu, sweetheart," she said to Keiko. "He's gonna have a full load when we leave here."

* * *

Shizuru was the first to disembark Puu when he landed and she quickly approached Yasashi, putting a hand on her shoulder and looking her directly in the eye.

"I'm guessing that horrified look on your face is there for several reasons," she said quietly. "But let's just deal with this like adults: we need to take care of your spy first."

She stepped aside and Yasashi's eyes moved to Oyama's body – which the girls had lent some of their clothing to to help conceal the worst of her injuries – resting on Puu's back.

"I'm sorry boss," Tora called over.

Yasashi silently shook her head.

"What happened?" she asked.

"I don't know how but the loyalists figured out that Oyama was spying for us."

Yasashi nodded, touching a hand to Chita's shoulder as she joined her, staring wide-eyed at her mother.

"Why are you all hurt?" Yasashi asked. "Was it an ambush? Did you have to flee? Are you being followed? Should we move on?"

Tora shook her head.

"It was just Iruka," she said. "And he won't be following us any more."

She held up the bamboo spear she had recovered above her head and Yasashi stared at it almost fearfully.

"You okay?" Shizuru asked her.

"You fought Iruka?" she asked, looking first at Shizuru and then over at Tora again. "And won?"

"It was a piece of cake," Shizuru said. "After your attack on him back on Ping Island, he was just an armless little pussy cat."

Yasashi turned to her sharply, a hint of a smile flickering on her face.

"Did you kill him?" Chita asked, leaning past her leader to look up at Shizuru.

"No," Shizuru replied.

Chita looked slightly disappointed.

"They did," Shizuru added, pointing at Yukina and Keiko as they slid off Puu's back.

"They took one of ours, it was only fitting that we took one of theirs," Tora added.

"Iruka is dead?" Yasashi asked, looking about the others.

"He's actually dead?" one of the little girls said cheerfully. "Alright!"

A chatter of excitement passed over the other rebel cat demons but Shizuru could see that the rebel leader did not share their zeal. She quietly moved towards Puu and helped Tora lower their fallen comrade to the ground. Tora then moved over to join her fellow rebels, but Yasashi knelt down, her back turned to them all. Yukina started towards her but Shizuru cut her off.

"Find out what we need to do for the ceremony for Oyama," she said to the ice maiden. "You too, kid," she added, looking over at Keiko.

They nodded and moved off, leaving Shizuru alone with Yasashi.

"Hey, don't blame yourself for this," Shizuru said, kneeling down at Yasashi's side.

"She risked so much for us," Yasashi replied, her eyes on Oyama as she spoke. "And she carried out her work for us undetected for so long… What went wrong? How did the loyalists figure out that she was a double-agent?"

"I don't know," Shizuru replied. "Iruka said something about them using torture to find out the truth. And, to be honest, it does look like this poor girl was tortured pretty badly before she finally found peace."

"But you don't know Oyama… She would never have revealed the truth, her love for her daughter was too great: she would have taken her secrets to her grave. I don't understand what went wrong…"

Shizuru took a deep breath, trying to think of the most diplomatic way she could explain what she suspected to be the truth to Yasashi.

"Sweetheart, your best girl Tora was able to get the truth out of Yukina and Hiei," she said carefully. "And she never got violent with either of them. I think whatever trick it is your team has been using to get information out of people, is now being used by your old friends back in the hinterlands."

Yasashi looked up at Shizuru and nodded before looking back over her shoulder.

"We'll give you a moment," she said to Chita. "I'm so sorry this has happened."

Chita nodded and moved over to kneel by her mother's side. Yasashi and Shizuru stood and slowly moved away from all the others.

"And what about you?" Yasashi asked once they were out of earshot of everyone else. "How is it you are here with Keiko and Puu?"

"You mean how is it that I didn't succumb to your little "paint the back garden raspberry sundae" trick?" Shizuru asked.

Yasashi narrowed her eyes.

"Well?" she pressed.

"Because I knew you'd try something like that," Shizuru replied.

"Who did you tell?" Yasashi asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Who did you warn? Obviously you warned Keiko."

"Keiko was the only one I got the chance to warn. When we got back to the living world, my brother, Yusuke and Kurama were still on the island with you."

Yasashi slowly shook her head.

"Kuwabara, Yusuke and Kurama left the island to look for you and Keiko. They couldn't find Puu to take them so they left by leaf boat."

"Then I don't know where they went. Keiko and I took Puu to spirit world with us."

Yasashi's face dropped.

"You and Keiko went to spirit world?" she asked. "But why?"

"To visit your former boss," Shizuru replied.

"Koenma? How is he?"

"Better than I expected. He misses you."

"I miss him too… What about Koneko? Did you happen to see her at all? I feel awful that she got so caught up in everything."

"No, I didn't see her."

"Okay… So if you went there with Keiko, does that mean…?"

Yasashi's eyes wandered to Keiko and Shizuru followed her gaze before smiling and shaking her head.

"I don't think she's figured it out yet," she said.

"I don't want her to feel obliged to help me like Yukina does," Yasashi explained. "And likewise that's why I didn't tell any of the others the truth."

"Well, without Puu, the boys will probably take a little longer to get here, but I'm pretty sure they won't be too far behind us," Shizuru said. "And I don't know about Keiko, Yusuke, my brother or Kurama, but I'm here because I want to be."

Yasashi smiled, but Shizuru could sense something amiss in the gesture.

"I know Kurama won't be joining us," she said.

Shizuru frowned questioningly.

"I had Tora check he was in his room and asleep before I planted the flowers in his garden," Yasashi confessed. "I knew Keiko would sleep through it and I was almost sure that you would too: but I thought Kurama might wake up and try to stop us."

"Ah," Shizuru said, nodding slowly. "Then that just leaves Yusuke and my brother… Who will probably either go looking for Kurama and fall prey to your flowers or they'll go to my house looking for breakfast and fall prey to the flowers there…"

Yasashi gave a tight smile.

"You had this all planned out, huh?" Shizuru asked her.

"Yes, but the results aren't quite what I expected," Yasashi replied. "I planted more flowers on Ping Island, thinking that would be where I would catch Yusuke and Kuwabara… Being the curious cat that I am I have to ask: how did you avoid falling victim to the flowers?"

"We stayed in a hotel on the other side of town last night," Shizuru explained. "And Koroko taught us some protective talismans which allowed us to make these…"

Shizuru reached into her pocket and produced the dust mask she had worn that morning in the living world. Yasashi took it from her, turning it over and studying it curiously.

"And what were you gonna do about "snowflake" over there?" Shizuru asked, nodding her head towards Yukina.

"I sent her with Tora to meet our spy and the plan was for Tora to push her through a portal back to the living world," Yasashi confessed.

"Where she probably would have gone to my house and fallen asleep, right?"

"Exactly."

"That's all your raspberry sundae flowers do, right? They just put people to sleep, nothing more sinister?"

"No, that's all they do… Which is also why nobody takes me seriously for using one as my primary weapon…"

Shizuru smiled.

"We take you seriously," she said. "Well, we will take you seriously from now on if you promise no more lies?"

Yasashi smiled and nodded.

"That's fair," she agreed. "Though I should warn you: Jagasame will be furious when he finds out that Iruka is dead."

"After we've dealt with Oyama, what's the next step?" Shizuru asked. "Off to reclaim the hinterlands by force?"

"No, I do actually have a plan. But first we should take care of Oyama."

Shizuru nodded and turned away, taking one step away before stopping again as she felt Yasashi's hand on her arm.

"I learned a neat trick in spirit world that might be of some use," she said when Shizuru looked back at her. "I see Iruka was still fighting like a monster: he bit you, didn't he?"

Shizuru nodded.

"Yukina did use her healing powers on us all, but she was quite tired by the time she was done," she said.

"Well, like I said, advanced healing is something they teach in spirit world, and interestingly the skill has transferred over to this body," Yasashi replied with a smile. "Let me see if I can finish off what Yukina started."

"That'd be nice, thanks sweetheart."

* * *

Kuwabara sat up sharply, but promptly regretted his action. His head was buzzing and the room was spinning and he had no memory of the night before. He turned his head to one side and saw Yusuke lying on the floor on a yoga mat, a small fleece blanket barely protecting his dignity. Kuwabara immediately decided that it was Yusuke's fault that he felt the way he did: after all, the only times Kuwabara had ever gotten drunk had been in the company of the mazoku.

Kuwabara pushed aside his bedsheets and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. He stretched his arms above his head and drew in a deep breath, his efforts rewarded with the back of his throat filling up with the sickeningly sweet taste of highly fragranced flowers.

He coughed and hacked and rose wearily to his feet, stumbling away from his bed and inadvertently stepping on one of Yusuke's arms in his stupor. As he righted himself he turned expectant of a retaliation punch or at the very least a snide remark: but amazingly Yusuke remained fast asleep, flat on his back, one arm sprawled out across the floor at his side, the other draped across the miniscule blanket over his midsection. Surprised – but relieved – to have escaped Yusuke's wrath, Kuwabara continued shuffling towards his bedroom door, opening it and stepping out into the hall.

Kuwabara stopped when he found his father lying facedown in the hallway, halfway between the bathroom and his bedroom.

Dazed and confused and thirsty and woozy, Kuwabara stepped over his father's pyjama-clad body and continued along the hallway to the top of the staircase.

Several seconds of painful thumping and rolling over himself later, Kuwabara was in the downstairs hallway.

He picked himself up and continued into the living room, staggering over to the corner of the room the karaoke machine was kept, dragging an inquisitive finger along the surface of the machine. When he turned his hand over and saw a grey crescent of dust on the outer edge of his finger he ruled out the possibility that Yusuke had come around and challenged him and his father to an alcohol-fuelled singing contest the night before.

Kuwabara continued into the dining room, squinting against the glaring sunlight spilling in through the glass doors that overlooked the back garden. He stumbled up to the doors and grabbed blindly for the curtain, intending to draw it shut to block out the light: but then he realised how odd it was that the sun was so high in the sky already and he remembered that there was no curtain to draw over the doors.

He braved opening his eyes to a squint, peering out of the doors at the garden beyond, all his physical discomforts quickly forgotten when his eyes were greeted by a sea of warm pink and cream flowers swaying gently in the breeze. They were so beautiful they were almost sparkling in the sunlight: he had no idea where they had come from, but he was confident that Yukina would love such a flower and so he tugged open the sliding glass door with the intention of heading outside to pick a bunch of the flowers for his paramour.

Kuwabara managed to get one foot outside onto the patio beyond before he collapsed in an ungracious heap in the doorway; he was unconscious before his head hit the ground.

* * *

Shizuru put an arm around the girls on either side of her as they stood at the waters' edge. All the cat demons were lined up next to them, and Chita and Yasashi were crouched down placing flowers onto the small leaf boat they had placed Oyama on. They said a few last words and then pushed the boat out into the water. Once it had drifted several feet away Yasashi opened out one hand abruptly in the air and the boat lit on fire.

"The cat demons have fire powers too?" Keiko whispered, looking up at Shizuru expectantly.

"Yasashi put a torch lily on the boat," Tora whispered to her. "It can be controlled up to thirty yards away and made to combust."

"Oh," Keiko said, nodding her head.

"I'm sorry girls, I know this hasn't been easy," Yasashi said, waving a hand for the others to gather around her. "But as Iruka's trap for us was obviously well-planned, he will very quickly be missed when he doesn't return: in fact, there's a good chance the scouts are already out looking for him, even if only in the hope of meeting him on his return from his little mission."

"So we should get moving?" Shizuru asked.

"Yes we should," Yasashi confirmed.

"Where are we gonna go?" Tora asked. "We were running out of hiding places before you came back Yasashi, we're not safe anywhere any more!"

"No, we're not," Yasashi agreed. "We've run out of places to hide, but we didn't come here to hide. We came here to fight. We're going to reclaim the farm."

A collective gasp rippled over the cat demons and Keiko and Yukina glanced about them curiously.

"I'm guessing the farm is part of the hinterlands, right?" Shizuru asked.

"It's a place that was used for experimenting with new demon plants," Yasashi replied. "It was abandoned shortly after the rebellion began – because only the lower class citizens were put there to work, which meant that it was run by the women of the tribe."

"The farm buildings are a bit rundown, but it's a good base for a showdown," Tora added.

"We'll be travelling most of the day but we should get there by nightfall," Yasashi said.

"We'll take the roads as far as we can, but we can't trust the border patrol, so I say we take it in turns riding on the bird in pairs to watch for patrol vehicles," Tora said.

"Good idea," Yasashi said. "I think you and Shizuru should go first, since the two of you are still weakened from your injuries. Next up we'll–"

"Excuse me, Yasashi?"

Everyone turned to Yukina as she stepped forwards.

"If the border patrol is a problem, can't we negotiate with them?" she asked.

"Not really," Tora replied. "Their job is to keep the peace so they don't like seeing us, since we usually attract trouble. At best they'll run us off the road. At worst, they'll take us in and hand us over to the loyalists. I've seen them do both."

Yukina shook her head urgently.

"But Mister Hiei is in charge of the border patrol and he's our friend!" she said. "I think Shizuru, Keiko and I should take Puu and find the nearest patrol unit and then we can ask to speak with Mister Hiei. He wouldn't let his officers mistreat his friends!"

Yasashi moved her eyes to Shizuru and the two exchanged pointed looks.

"Why don't we start on our journey for now?" Yasashi said, turning her attention back to Yukina. "If one of the patrol vehicles passes, we can consider our options then."

"A vehicle will pass!" Tora said to Yasashi. "You weren't here when they set it up: trust me, if you stand on their route, you never have to wait longer than half an hour before a vehicle passes!"

"Then let's proceed," Yasashi said. "You and Shizuru take look out–"

Yasashi stopped abruptly as Yukina took a step closer to her.

"If they see a vehicle, they can alert us, and we can try your plan Yukina," she explained. "You, Shizuru and Keiko will talk to them and we will hide until we are sure it's safe."

Yukina nodded.

"Okay, so Tora, Shizuru, go with Puu, everybody else pair up, I'll lead the way and if anything approaches we take cover and nobody moves without getting the okay from me, got it?" Yasashi said.

The others all sounded their agreement and arranged themselves into pairs as Shizuru helped Tora up onto Puu's back. Yasashi moved along the line rearranging the pairs until they were standing in an order she was pleased with – putting the two little girls with their mother in the centre of the group as a trio – and once she was done she climbed up onto the road and waved for Puu to take off. As Puu took to the air Yasashi waved for the others to join her on the road.

"Why do we have to walk like this?" Keiko asked Yukina as they reached the road.

"It's a tactic," Yasashi answered her.

"What sort of tactic?" Keiko asked.

"A strategic one in case we come under attack," Yasashi replied. "It's easier for two bodies to hide than it is for twelve bodies to hide."

Keiko turned to Yukina, who smiled despite the grim look Keiko was sending her.

"A-are we likely to come under attack?" Keiko asked. "I'm still shaking from facing Iruka!"

"We've got a lookout and we're a long way from the hinterlands," Yasashi replied. "We should be fine."

"Oh good!"

"For at least two or three hours."

"What?"

Yasashi smiled over her shoulder at Keiko, but Keiko was still unsure if the rebel leader was joking or not. She decided not to question the matter any further however, instead taking some time to study her surroundings. They were walking along a raised, wide, winding road made of red dirt that was firm – if a little dusty – and the landscape on either side of the road dipped down into marshes, intercepted by the odd patch of trees. In the middle distance to the right of the road was the steeper landscape Keiko had first encountered on her arrival in demon world – the place where she and Shizuru had found Tora and Yukina battling Iruka – and in the far distance to the left of the road was the jagged outline of what Keiko assumed was buildings in some sort of city. A storm was still rumbling and flickering over the higher ground to the right, and another storm appeared to be brewing over the distant city to the left, but the sky straight ahead was relatively clear and, despite the air still carrying an odour that threatened to make Keiko wretch with every breath she drew, the atmosphere around them was still and surprisingly peaceful.

Looking back over her shoulder, Keiko saw Puu's shadow rippling over the marshy landscape, and she found the sight reassuring: she knew Shizuru would make a good lookout and the presence of a contented Puu was always a nice reminder that Yusuke was alright, despite apparently being under the spell of demon flowers back in the living world.

Meanwhile, up on Puu's back, Shizuru and Tora were sitting back-to-back, Shizuru facing in the direction Puu was flying and Tora facing the opposite way, both searching for any signs of trouble.

"It's not so bad having you here," Tora said suddenly.

"Careful there, tiger," Shizuru replied. "The snappy banter I can handle but when you turn on the charm like that I really go weak at the knees."

"Hmm, I see why Yasashi likes you so well," Tora said. "I suppose what I really meant though was that I'm glad Kurama isn't here."

"What's the matter tiger?" Shizuru asked with a smirk. "Are you jealous of him?"

"As if!"

"What is it that bothers you more: that he has better hair than you or that he's your top contender for your boss's affections?"

"You don't get it. When he came along everything changed. He kept deliberately following after us. I wouldn't have minded, but he just drew attention to us from his bandit friends."

"Well at least you don't have that problem now."

"I don't know why you and your friends put up with him."

"He's really not that bad. Try taking off your green-tinted glasses and taking another look: I'm pretty sure you'll see he's a strong and clever guy who always does the right thing and who would have been a big help to you if you'd let him."

"I'm not jealous of him."

"Of course not."

Tora sighed.

"He's not here now though," she said. "And neither is Iruka. I didn't think I'd live to see the day Iruka fell."

"I didn't think I'd live to see the day Yukina and Keiko beheaded a guy," Shizuru replied.

"It's not just that he was one of our enemies or that he was the second in command of the loyalists," Tora said. "It was… It's just that… Well, he sort of thought that I would be his… And with him gone… It's like I'm completely free now."

"Yeah, I don't think anyone would relish the thought of being forced to marry that asshole."

"It's just that… For so long, we've been the hunted. For so long, we've been run out of everywhere we've tried to call home but now… For the first time ever… It's like we might actually win… It's like we're the hunters…"

Shizuru wanted to agree with Tora, but what had started as a vague sense of something ominous was gaining traction in her mind and accelerating into something deeply sinister: Tora's hopes of no longer being hunted would not be realised that day.


	17. Vengeance

**Chapter 17 – Vengeance**

Keiko looked down at the leaf resting on the ground at Shizuru's side, still piled high with food, and she found herself feeling a tad guilty for having eaten her own meal so greedily. Adrenaline had carried her through the altercation with Iruka, through Oyama's funeral and through a brisk walk along the demon road; but when it had come to her turn to take watch on Puu, the resting of her physical self had finally made her realise just how tired and famished she felt.

"Hey Shizuru?" she said. "Are you okay?"

Shizuru turned her head, looking down first at the slightly ugly fish decorated with berries and nuts at her side before moving her eyes to the leaf that Keiko had, rather shamelessly, licked clean.

"Don't mind me, sweetheart," she said gently. "I'm just not really a fan of demon world cuisine."

Keiko pouted, finding her response unsatisfactory: ever since Puu had brought her back down from her watch shift, Shizuru had been wearing that distinctly concerned look she always wore when she sensed something terrible was afoot.

"I came to demon world, Shizuru," Keiko said sternly. "I didn't do that lightly. If you know something, you have to tell me what it is!"

"I don't wanna worry you, it's probably nothing," Shizuru replied.

"You were right about Koenma hiding things, you were right about Yasashi trying to stop us following her and how she did it, so whatever it is this time, you're probably right again!" Keiko insisted. "So tell me! Please?"

"I'm hoping I'm not right this time."

"Tell me what it is!"

"We're out-numbered by more than thirty to one."

Keiko gasped, turning to look up at Yukina, who was suddenly standing at her side.

"And some of them are almost as powerful as Iruka was," she added.

Standing at the edge of the road dressed in mud stained jeans, an over-sized sweater that had seen better days and a luridly pink bandana tied around her head, the wind lifting the ends of her hair, Yukina oddly reminded Keiko of someone else entirely.

"Hey "snowflake"," Shizuru said with a smirk. "I think you're taking your role as New Hiei too seriously: you're starting to sound as cheerful as he usually does."

"A-and you're starting to look like him too!" Keiko blurted out as her mind finally made the connection.

Yukina turned her head, her red eyes wide as she looked down at Keiko.

"Maybe it's the jagan eye…" she said, her voice softer and sounding more like herself once more.

"Are there really that many of the loyalists?" Keiko asked her.

"I think so," Yukina replied. "Before she died, Yasashi told me there were more than three hundred cat demons living in the hinterlands."

Keiko froze and Yukina looked slightly panicked.

"Oh but don't worry!" the ice maiden quickly added. "Some of them are women and children and some of them are quite weak – not all of them are warriors. Not all of them will fight."

"But the ones that will fight still out number us significantly, right?" Shizuru asked.

Keiko saw Yukina falter, a look of guilt passing over her face.

"How soon are we likely to have to confront them?" Keiko asked quietly. "Because I'm quite tired and I was hoping I wouldn't have to see any more blood before I've had a decent sleep."

"Yasashi expects us to reach the farm by nightfall," Yukina replied.

"And we can get some sleep there and carry on in the morning, right?" Keiko said.

"Well, the farm is in the hinterlands, so I think the loyalists might have something to say about us moving in there."

Keiko nodded and sighed in resignation.

"I guess I'll just have to enjoy the walk there as best I can," she said.

"Or not."

Keiko turned to Shizuru to ask what she meant, but Shizuru was already on her feet. Keiko quickly stood up, looking up as both Shizuru and Yukina already were, finding Puu diving down from the sky. Yasashi was on his back making strange signals in the air with her arms. Keiko wondered what she meant, but when she lowered her head she saw that the rebels apparently understood their leader's sign language, as they were all clearing away the evidence that they had been fishing at the riverside and they were pairing off as they had on the road. Tora ran over to Shizuru and Keiko and Yukina turned to her too.

"The border patrol are on their way," she explained. "Do you girls still want to attempt negotiating with them or do you want to hide with us?"

"What do you think we should do, Shizuru?" Keiko asked her friend.

"I'm gonna let Yukina make this call," Shizuru replied, turning to the ice maiden. "Negotiating with these guys was your idea Yukina: do you still think we should do this?"

Yukina looked up and down the road, her brow furrowing as though she felt conflicted.

"You've got about twenty seconds to decide, snowflake," Tora warned her.

Puu landed and Yasashi leapt down to the road, ushering Tora over the edge of the road, urging her to hide herself, before rejoining Keiko, Shizuru and Yukina.

"You don't have to do this, girls," she said.

"I'm certain Mister Hiei would help us in any way he could," Yukina said. "He might even be able to take us part of the way on his vehicle."

Yasashi tilted her head and scrunched up her nose.

"In my experience, Hiei doesn't do anything to help unless there's something in it for him in return," she said. "Everything Kuwabara said back on Ping Island was right: Maze Castle, the dark tournament, Genkai's ordeal, even Sensui: Hiei only got involved after excessive bribing."

"How hard did you have to bribe him to take out Tarukane and the Toguros?" Shizuru asked.

"Not at all," Yasashi immediately replied. "In fact, he volunteered to help and joined that little mission all on his own… Accord… When… Ah, I see!"

Keiko did not share Yasashi's epiphany – which appeared to happen when Shizuru began pointing purposefully at Yukina – rather she only felt more confused than ever.

"Thanks girls," Yasashi said, before leaping off the road and vanishing from sight.

Looking back along the road in the direction they had come from, Keiko could see a dust cloud rising in the air and the liquefying distortion of a heat haze that indicated the patrol vehicle's approach.

"Yukina, are you happy to take the lead here?" Shizuru asked as the roof of the vehicle began to appear.

Yukina nodded and Shizuru turned to Keiko, who looked up at her expectantly.

"We should have a back-up plan, just in case this doesn't go as expected," Shizuru whispered. "If things start to go south, we get on Puu and we retreat."

"What about the others?" Keiko asked.

"They're well-hidden," Shizuru replied. "And I don't think fighting what is basically the police of this world is a good idea. I think we've got enough enemies here as it is."

Keiko nodded, lifting her kendo stick over her shoulder and sliding it down diagonally between her back and her backpack; if she did not need to use it, she preferred to have her hands free to help her escape quicker if need be.

Turning her attention back to the road, the patrol vehicle had reached the top of the slope in the road that it had been climbing, bringing it level and revealing the entirety of it to Keiko's line of sight. It was bigger than even the largest of tanks she had ever seen in the living world – in museums or on television news reports – and it looked and moved as though it was heavier than a human tank too. In fact, Keiko thought with a nervous gulp, the patrol vehicle looked and moved as though it could squash them all – including Puu – without hesitation or interruption of its forward journey. She briefly entertained the idea that just that might happen – the patrol might think a few minor bodies in their way was a major inconvenience and they might not stop – but her fear was quickly allayed when the vehicle began to slow down long before it reached them, eventually drawing to a halt a good thirty feet away from them. A lean-bodied demon that looked a little like a golden-skinned humanoid anteater leapt down to the ground and started to walk towards them, regarding them through thin, scrutinising eyes.

"Good afternoon Sir," Yukina greeted him, bowing her head politely in greeting.

The patrol officer stopped in front of Yukina, his eyes thinning further as he studied her for a moment.

"I'm terribly sorry to bother you, but my friends and I are looking for one of your colleagues," Yukina continued, apparently undaunted by the increasingly irritated look the long-snouted demon was giving her. "Is Mister Hiei with your company today?"

There was a long pause before Yukina received a response, and when the reply finally did come, Keiko almost wanted to laugh at the irony of it.

"Actually sweetheart, I'm a woman."

Yukina gasped and hurriedly bowed her head.

"My deepest apologies, Ma'am!" she said.

"It's fine," the patrol officer replied. "Hiei isn't with this convoy, but we didn't just stop to make idle conversation with you: we stopped because you have two humans with you here, and it's our duty to send them back to their own world."

"It's okay, these humans are with me," Yukina said.

The patrol officer slowly shook her head.

"I'm not sure you wanted to admit to that," she said. "Keeping humans as slaves is a crime nowadays and it's another thing I'm duty-bound to respond to."

"Oh no, they're not my slaves, they're my friends!" Yukina hurriedly corrected her.

The patrol officer looked carefully at Keiko and then Shizuru.

"Honey, do I look like I'm enslaved over here?" Shizuru asked her.

"It looks to me like a demon with a jagan eye has hypnotised two humans and is parading them around like trophies," the patrol officer flatly replied. "And as if that ain't bad enough, you're travelling with a giant peacock and you're in a strangely remote region: the only thing this road leads to and from is the hinterlands of Alaric, and that's not a place anybody goes to unless they're collecting a bounty. So really, this looks to me like this little girl is taking two human slaves and the main dish for a banquet off to market to collect the best price she can get for them."

"Puu's not a peacock, he's a swan," Yukina said quietly.

"I thought he was a goose," Shizuru said.

"I think he's supposed to be an egret, or some sort of heron," Keiko added.

"I don't care what it is," the patrol officer said. "And I don't care what excuses you all have: humans are not allowed to run around in demon world like this. I gotta take these two to the nearest portal, wipe their memories of this place, and send them home."

"No, please, wait!" Yukina said, holding up her hands. "We're friends of Mister Hiei!"

"I don't think so," the officer replied. "I know Hiei, and he doesn't mix with low level demons or humans."

"Pfft, obviously you don't know Hiei very well…" Keiko muttered.

The patrol officer turned her head, fixing her thin eyes onto Keiko, who grinned nervously.

"I don't have time for this," the patrol officer said. "The humans are coming with me, you are under arrest for hypnotising them and attempting to collude with an officer of the border patrol and the blue ostrich can either get off the road or become a stain on the underside of our vehicle."

"But Mister Hiei would attest to our innocence!" Yukina insisted.

"Listen sister, I'm getting tired of the sound of your voice," the patrol officer bluntly replied. "So save it for the jury."

She started to reach a hand towards Yukina but stopped short of her goal as a vine snapped around her wrist, halting her actions. She slowly ran her eyes along the length of the plant until she found the wielder of it.

"I'm sorry, but I can't let you arrest or deport anybody here today."

Keiko was not sure that Yasashi's interference had been a wise decision, as her appearance had caused three more bodies to disembark the patrol vehicle and start towards them.

"Well, now I understand why she's going to the hinterlands," the patrol officer said. "I did think it was odd she was going such a long way just to sell off a couple of humans and a giant turkey."

"Puu's not a turkey," Yasashi corrected her. "He's a noble eagle – apparently…"

The patrol officer narrowed her already narrowed eyes and clenched her hand into a fist, the vine around her wrist snapping and disintegrating. Her other officers joined her as the vine wilted to the ground, the remains still hanging from Yasashi's hand. The rebel leader shrugged and flicked something casually onto the road before dropping and pressing her free hand to the ground. A tree shot up out of the road – despite the dry, hard surface not being the type of earth that anything would grow from – but as soon as the tree had reached its fullest height one of the officers produced a sword and leapt up, slicing the tree in half vertically.

"That was helpful," Yasashi casually commented.

The officer with the sword gave her a hard look but she returned it with a smile that did not falter even when the two halves of the tree fell in a V-shape across the whole width of the road. She then turned to Yukina, Keiko and Shizuru, who were on one side of the fallen tree.

"You might want to distance yourself for this next part," she advised them.

Yukina nodded and started towards Puu. Keiko and Shizuru quickly followed her lead, Puu lifting them from the road as the patrol officers leapt onto the road between the two halves of the fallen tree. Keiko watched on curiously as the officers became stuck in the previously concealed pool of sap the tree had leaked onto the road. Yasashi threw a handful of petals at the patrol officers and they collapsed into the sticky mess, looking strangely peaceful as they fell asleep.

"I hate to do this," Yasashi said with a sigh. "But they're clearly not on our side and we can't afford to have them coming after us again."

Keiko wondered what she meant, leaning forwards to afford herself a better view as Yasashi slid three small yellow and orange flowers from one sleeve, each flower resting between her fingers. She hopped up onto the base of the fallen tree and drew back her hand and then swung it forwards, launching the three flowers stem-first towards the patrol vehicle. The sharp stalks barely punctured the surface of the vehicle, tentatively hanging as though they would fall out at any moment: but after a wave of Yasashi's hand, Keiko remembered where she had seen the flowers before.

Yasashi dived off the road, disappearing from sight, and Puu backed away and upwards as the flowers ignited and the patrol vehicle began to quiver. A few seconds of stillness passed before the patrol vehicle burst apart, a dark liquid spilling from it and catching alight, leaving behind a mess of warped metal and a river of flames.

Puu, without instruction, slowly landed on the road again, and the cat demons all gradually emerged, stepping back up onto the road.

"Who didn't know that was gonna happen?" Tora asked.

"I'm sure it would have gone differently if Mister Hiei had been with them," Yukina replied.

"Oh, sure it would have, snowflake," Tora said.

"We could have negotiated with the officers," Yukina added.

"Yeah, you were making a fantastic job of negotiating your way straight into prison," Tora responded.

"That was pretty close, Yukina," Keiko admitted. "I guess we really don't have any allies here."

"Let's keep moving," Yasashi said. "It's only a matter of time before someone realises what we did here, so let's get as far away from the scene of the crime as we can before that happens."

Yukina and Keiko jumped down from Puu's back and Tora jumped up to join Shizuru on watch duty again. As Puu took off, Keiko noticed that Yukina looked paler than usual.

"Are you okay Yukina?" she asked.

Yukina forced a smile.

"I thought I might get arrested," she admitted. "I thought the only way we would get to speak with Hiei was if I let them arrest me, but I didn't want them to do anything bad to you or Shizuru. Or Puu."

"Well, we're okay now," Keiko assured her.

Yukina nodded, but Keiko thought that she still looked a little apprehensive.

* * *

Kuwabara groaned, his hands clenching into fists at his sides. He was sure he could feel a draft, and he could only assume that he had accidentally left his bedroom window open. It was not that the breeze on his skin was unpleasant – in fact, it was quite soothing – but the wind was carrying a horrid, sickeningly sweet smell with it. He pushed himself up with his fists before awkwardly rising to his feet and fumbling about blindly for the window. When his fingers collided with glass he felt for a handle and then tugged at it, pulling until the sound of bird calls and the wind stopped.

Kuwabara opened his eyes to thin slits, squinting against the glaring sunlight.

He wondered why he had fallen asleep by the patio doors.

Kuwabara opened his eyes wide, ignoring the pain of the glaring light he was subjected to: he was overlooking his back garden, and it was awash with sparkling pink and cream flowers that were both far too vibrant and far too beautiful to be of living world origin. He turned on the spot and hurried towards the front door. He was almost certain the flowers that had taken over the garden were of the demon variety, but the only way to be sure was to ask an expert, and so he set out to find Kurama.

Walking out onto the street in only his red boxer shorts was surprisingly refreshing: it was such a nice day outside after all. Walking down the middle of the road was a little uncomfortable with bare feet, but, as he stepped over the hood of a car that had barely avoided colliding with him, Kuwabara decided that it was not so bad, and Kurama's house was quite close.

One screaming old lady, three giggling little girls and two near misses with traffic later, Kuwabara found himself at Kurama's front door. He knocked on the door and waited for a reply, his eyes wandering upwards and his head tilting in silent fascination as he noticed Kurama's step-brother, one leg out of his bedroom window, the other still inside, his body slumped in the window-frame and apparently asleep; he always had been a strange boy though.

When nobody answered the door after what Kurama thought was a reasonable length of time, he tried to open the door himself. It was locked, but he found a key under a plant pot on the porch that opened it, and so he continued inside. He wandered around the house a little before moving upstairs, where he found Kurama's mother asleep in her bed, Kurama's step-father asleep in the doorway of Kokoda's bedroom and Kurama asleep in his own bed.

"Hey, Kurama?" Kuwabara said, pushing a hand at the dozing fox demon's shoulder. "Kurama? Kurama! Kurama!"

When yelling his name several times failed to waken Kurama, Kuwabara tried leaning over him and yelling in his face. When that strategy also failed, Kuwabara shuffled through to the bathroom, filled a cup with water and brought it back to Kurama's room, throwing the water a little clumsily over Kurama's face.

"Whoa…" Kuwabara muttered as he dropped the cup. "He didn't even flinch!"

As he looked down at Kurama's serene – if now also drenched – face, a thought occurred to Kuwabara. He stepped up onto Kurama's bed and opened the curtains, looking out onto the back garden. It was filled with the same unusual flowers Kuwabara had observed in his own garden, and he began to wonder if there was a reason for that. He opened the window and knelt down, barely squeezing himself between Kurama and the window, before peering outside.

He drew in two deep breaths before slumping back into the bed.

* * *

Shizuru put her hands out, grabbing Keiko's shoulder in one and Yukina's shoulder in the other. Both girls stopped and turned to her expectantly.

"I gotta bad feeling," she warned them.

They had not long left the dusty road the border patrol guarded, starting along a flat piece of land carpeted by dry, spiky grass: but ahead of them the land sloped steeply down into a valley between two large mountains. The valley itself was mostly taken up by a wide, angry river: but despite the roaring of the water and the general stench of demon world, Shizuru could still distinctly feel the approach of something nefarious.

"Everything alright, Shizuru?" Yasashi asked, stopping alongside her.

Shizuru shook her head.

"I'm not a gambling girl, but I'd bet you my next month's wage that the bad guys are waiting for us down there," she said.

Yasashi looked out across the valley and nodded.

"I don't doubt your suspicions," she said. "On the other side of the valley, the river flows out to the west and the area on the other side of the water is what's known as the hinterlands."

"We're there already?" Keiko asked, looking up at the sky. "I thought we wouldn't get there before nightfall?"

Yasashi shook her head.

"It's still another two miles over difficult terrain," she explained. "It would probably take at least another hour to reach the farm."

"I don't think we'll make it that far alone," Shizuru said. "I think there's a great big welcoming party waiting for us down in that valley."

"We can't continue then," Yukina offered. "The mountains are too steep and the river is too wild: we'd be trapped."

"I agree with Yukina," Keiko said. "The passage through the valley looks too narrow: if they ambush us – and if they outnumber us so greatly – we'd be in big trouble."

"So what now, fearless leader?" Shizuru asked, turning to Yasashi.

"Everybody stay with your partner," Yasashi announced, looking around the others. "I'll investigate alone. If you lose sight of me, take cover. If you see the signal, take cover."

She waved at the two cat demons in the air on Puu's back and the spirit beast obediently began to descend.

"This is a waste of time!" Tora said.

Yasashi turned to her curiously.

"You've been out of this fight for too long, Yasashi," she continued. "We've come this far, we know they're waiting for us, we're not gonna be able to draw them out and if we hide back here, they'll just call in all their bounty hunting friends to charge us from the rear and herd us into the valley anyway."

Yasashi turned to Shizuru.

"Change of plan," she said. "Shizuru, stay with Keiko and Yukina. Tora, you're with me now."

"I don't need to be paired with anyone!" Tora replied.

"Easy tiger, I think your boss is probably right this time around," Shizuru advised.

"How can you say that?" Tora snapped at her. "Your two weak little friends killed Iruka! If we all go into this the same way they did – without hesitation – we can take down all the loyalists: even Jagasame!"

"Tora, this isn't the time for bravado!" Yasashi admonished. "We need to proceed with caution. Before we can advance, we must understand what the loyalists have planned, what traps they may have laid for us–"

"You're starting to sound just like Kurama."

Yasashi and Tora both went very still and silent, staring at each other with an intensity that made Shizuru almost feel queasy just to stand next to.

"Get on the bird and keep your mouth shut," Yasashi eventually said.

Tora's lip twitched and her eyes thinned, but she did as she was asked.

"Everybody else hold your position here unless you lose sight of us or you see the signal," Yasashi told the others.

"Signal?" Keiko asked.

"It's okay, we'll let you know if it happens," Chita called over to her.

Yasashi joined Tora on Puu's back and he spread his wings, taking a few strides forward before launching himself into the air. Shizuru felt a flicker of something unusual as Puu flew over her head. She looked down at the ground, expecting to see a snake or some sort of lizard, but there was nothing unusual to be seen. She kept her eyes down a little longer, finally noticing a slight quiver of movement in the grass halfway down the slope they were standing on. When a mound of grass began to grow in size a sickening realisation hit her and she began frantically waving her arms above her head.

"Hey!" she screamed, her voice breaking from the force of her cry. "Look out!"

Yasashi glanced back at Shizuru, but in doing so she failed to notice the black root shooting out of the ground towards her. The root caught one of Puu's feet and yanked downwards. Puu cried out as he was jerked through the air, the combination of the root's attack and his response throwing both Yasashi and Tora from his back. The fall was quite a significant one, but both cat demons were quickly obscured from sight as a mass of black roots shot up.

"They just took our two top fighters!" Chita cried.

Shizuru opened her mouth to tell the other cat demons to stay back, but before she could voice her thoughts, Yukina had already started running down the hill. The others hurried after her until only Keiko remained at Shizuru's side. Shizuru turned to her to tell her how relieved she was that she could count on her to be sensible and not go running blindly into a trap, but instead she made a small noise of alarm as she found Keiko throwing down her backpack and then grasping her kendo stick in both hands.

"I'm ready to go, we should stick together though, like Yasashi said," she said.

Shizuru tried to say something, but words failed her again.

"Come on, Yukina's already down there!" Keiko urged.

Shizuru turned to look down the hill again, if only to confirm that what Keiko had said was true. As she located Yukina's aqua hair – which looked almost luminescent under the shadow of the roots – she could see that Keiko was not only right, but that Yukina was still ahead of all the others. She kicked at a root and for a brief, incredulous moment, it seemed as though her tiny foot bouncing off of the root had been a significant attack, as the roots all dropped back down into the ground as suddenly as they had arisen. Keiko looked up at Shizuru again and Shizuru nodded at her. Together they ran down the hill, joining the group at the edge of the freshly churned earth where the roots had emerged.

"What the hell was that all about?" Shizuru asked.

"Is everybody here?" Keiko asked. "Is everybody's partner here?"

Yukina moved over to stand next to Keiko and the others all moved to stand alongside their respective counterparts. Shizuru watched Yasashi carefully as she muttered names under her breath, waving hands at each member of the group as she went.

"It looks like everyone is still here," she concluded. "Is everyone okay?"

There was a murmur of agreement, but Shizuru blocked it out.

"Everyone isn't still here, Yasashi," she said.

Yasashi looked at her in a way that suggested she had no idea what she had just said.

"Is Puu okay?" Keiko asked.

She and Yukina looked about before locating Puu some distance away. They ran over to him and Shizuru started after them, grabbing Yasashi's arm and dragging her along.

"Your angry little friend is missing!" she explained when Yasashi started protesting.

"Tora?" Yasashi echoed.

"Yeah," Shizuru confirmed. "Unless she's still with Puu then those roots took her wherever the hell they went."

Yasashi yanked her arm from Shizuru's hold and took off at a speed Shizuru had not realised she was capable of. She passed Keiko and Yukina and ran all around Puu before pushing him up to his feet to check underneath him.

"They've got Tora!" she called out.

Shizuru cursed and stopped running as she joined Keiko and Yukina, who had stopped as Yasashi reached Puu. They watched Yasashi look about herself wildly as though she expected Tora to suddenly appear somewhere nearby as the remainder of the rebels gradually joined them.

"This is terrible," Yukina said faintly.

"What do you think happened to her?" Keiko asked.

"I dunno kid," Shizuru replied. "There's just one thing that doesn't make any sense though."

Keiko and Yukina turned to her expectantly.

"If those roots were a weapon of the loyalists, why didn't–"

Shizuru's voice caught in her throat and she fell to her knees, hugging her arms around her torso as she began to struggle to breathe. She could see a monster in her mind: a tall, wide creature with enormous fangs, piercing yellow eyes and hairy hands dripping with blood. It was close and it would bring about something terrible, but it was nothing compared to the red-eyed monster that would follow.

"Shizuru, are you okay?"

Shizuru could still hear Keiko's voice with surprising clarity, but she lacked the strength to answer her. Only when her vision of the yellow-eyed beast shifted did she find the energy required to move, forcing herself to stand.

"Over there," she managed to make herself say, pointing out towards the valley. "Behind the mountain on the right."

The others all turned to look in the direction she had indicated and there followed a long moment of silent stillness before a hint of movement appeared at the location Shizuru had indicated. A handful of armoured demons appeared around the side of the mountain, looking out over at the girls.

"There's only fifteen of them," Keiko said. "That's not so bad, right?"

"But where's Tora?" Yukina asked.

As soon as Yukina had finished talking, another handful of armoured demons appeared, followed again by another two groups. Shizuru could see that Keiko was still trying to count them; and as their number had reached a staggering high she could only assume that the logical action of performing a headcount was somehow soothing to Keiko in what was doubtlessly a moment of panicked fear.

And then the yellow-eyed monster from Shizuru's vision appeared, approaching from the rear of the armoured demons.

Seeing the monster sent a series of questions and disturbing thoughts through Shizuru's mind: she wondered how it was that Jagasame was so much physically larger than all the other cat demons; she realised that the loyalist leader was incredibly powerful and that those around her would never be able to best him in battle; and she wondered exactly how the physical aspect of the relationship between Jagasame and Yasashi would have functioned, given that he was more than twice her height and arguably ten times her width.

 _You took one of ours._

Shizuru stiffened, looking about herself. No-one else around her appeared to have heard the loyalist leader's voice but her, and she wondered if he was addressing only her.

 _You took my best soldier._

Shizuru looked over at Yasashi, the look on the rebel leader's face and the slightly askew angle of Jagasame's head telling her that he was in fact addressing Yasashi, though Shizuru was somehow able to overhear what he was saying.

 _Now I'm going to do to your best soldier what you did to mine._

Shizuru turned back to Jagasame, gasping along with the others as he hoisted Tora up in the air, her body barely bigger than his hand. She was struggling desperately but it was obvious that she would never break free of his hold with her own strength. As he started to reach his other hand towards her Shizuru grabbed Keiko and Yukina, turning them around to face her so that they would not witness what she already knew was going to happen next.

As Jagasame pulled Tora's head from her body Yasashi let out a cry of despair that seemed to be enough to keep Keiko and Yukina turned away as they both hid their faces. Energy began swirling around Yasashi in growing waves and an air of irrationality hardened her expression. Shizuru shook her head and started to move towards her, intent on warning her that she was running into a problem far bigger than it seemed; but she stopped when Yasashi turned to glare at her with glowing eyes.

"Stay out of this," she growled. "This is my fight, and I'm ending it here and now."

"Wait!" Shizuru cried. "Something really bad is about to happen and if you go running over there, you'll be killed!"

Yasashi gave her one last glare before turning and starting down the hill. Shizuru ran after her and the others followed her lead, but they did get far before Yasashi skidded to a halt and turned on them, throwing a handful of what looked like beans at them. She ran on again as a row of trees sprouted from the ground, blocking the path for the others to follow her.

"Are those pussy willow trees?" Keiko asked. "That's kinda funny, a cat using a pussy willow tree as a weapon! What's it gonna do anyway?"

Shizuru looked over both her shoulders, seeing half of the rebels backing off fearfully and the other half staring up at the trees in a cold sweat. Yukina was the first to move again, running towards the trees. As she neared them, they began shedding their fuzzy catkins, which landed harmlessly on the ground. When nothing else happened, Shizuru, Keiko and a few of the stronger cat demons started to follow: but they all stopped again when the catkins suddenly pounced at Yukina.

"They're literally miniature wildcats," Chita offered when Keiko shot her a questioning look. "They'll tear you apart with their teeth and claws if you try to pass."

"But if we don't go on, Jagasame will kill Yasashi!" another cat demon added.

Chita and the other, braver, cat demons charged onwards, quickly becoming caught in the swarm of catkins. Keiko turned to Shizuru for guidance and Shizuru took a moment to first locate Yasashi before answering: when she saw that the rebel leader was almost at the river she reluctantly started forwards.

"We have to stop Yasashi," she explained as Keiko followed her lead. "She doesn't know what she's running into."

"Right," Keiko agreed. "Jagasame will kill her too – or worse, she'll end up like poor Oyama!"

Shizuru briefly contemplated not telling Keiko the truth, but as the ominous feeling began creeping over her again she swallowed back her reluctance and pressed on.

"It's not Jagasame she has to worry about," she said. "He won't get his hands on her today. It's what's coming that will kill her if we can't get to her in time."

"What's coming?" Keiko repeated. "What do you…"

Keiko's voice trailed off and she winced and flinched almost painfully.

"What is that noise?" she wailed. "It sounds like hundreds of people being painfully tortured and screaming for their lives! And why does it feel so dark?"

"Yeah, this is something that's gonna make you wish you'd never had training to raise your spiritual awareness…" Shizuru said.

"It's awful! What is that noise?" Keiko cried.

With her hands pressed against her ears, apparently she had not heard Shizuru's reply; but she appeared to hear Yukina's.

"That's the sound of an equaliser!"

Yukina was smiling brilliantly despite the fact that she had a catkin chewing on her right shoulder and another one clawing at her left shin, but Shizuru did not share her enthusiasm. As she turned to face the enormous red-eyed monster racing down the hill towards them she could not help but think that the cat demon situation was about to get even more complicated.


	18. Botan

**A/N:** Hiei's role in this fic: Mr. Exposition.

* * *

 **Chapter 18 – "Botan"**

Kuwabara slowly opened his eyes, but promptly wished that he had not done so, as his worst fears were realised when he did: he was in bed with Kurama. In fact, he was in Kurama's bed with Kurama. In fact, he was in Kurama's single bed with Kurama. In fact, he was squashed into Kurama's single bed, his body compressed between the bedroom wall and Kurama's body. In fact, he was squashed into Kurama's single bed, his body compressed between the bedroom wall and Kurama's body and they were both wearing some kind of strange bondage gag. Also Yusuke was standing at the side of the bed watching them, and he too was wearing some kind of strange bondage gag.

"Hey Kuwabara," Yusuke said as their eyes met. "I knew you'd gotten real close to Kurama since the two of you went to the same university together, but I didn't realise things between the two of you were this cosy. Can I be best man at your wedding?"

"Shut-up, Urameshi!" Kuwabara cried, wrestling his way up onto his knees at Kurama's side.

He looked down at Kurama, another oddity occurring to him.

"Why is his face wet?" he asked, pointing down at Kurama.

"I dunno," Yusuke muttered with a shrug.

"And what the hell are these things for?"

Kuwabara grabbed a hand at the piece of cloth tied over his nose and mouth but Yusuke grabbed his wrists before he could remove it.

"Idiot, if you take that off, you'll end up back where Kurama still is!" Yusuke scolded him.

Kuwabara looked down at Kurama curiously before looking at Yusuke again, something catching his eye as he did so. He watched Yusuke for a moment before slowly leaning to one side to see past him, bringing into his line of sight a nervous looking girl in a powder blue kimono with long, pale pink hair and bright blue eyes; and she was also wearing a mask over her mouth and nose.

"Who's she?" he asked, moving his eyes back to Yusuke.

"That's Koneko," Yusuke replied. "She's from spirit world. Koenma sent her here. She's not supposed to be here and she's not supposed to be helping us. But apparently Junior was missing the sort of excitement that only I can bring into his life because he sent her here to make sure we made it to demon world to help Josie and the Pussy Cats find a new scratching post."

"Yusuke, please…" Kurama groaned.

"Fox boy's up," Yusuke said, nodding at Kurama.

Kuwabara yelped and hurriedly hurled himself off the bed, landing with a clatter on the floor at Koneko's feet. Kurama slowly sat up, squinting against the sunlight before flinching and looking at Yusuke with suddenly wide eyes. His eyes momentarily lingered on the mask Yusuke was wearing before he appeared to have an idea and he turned to the window, opening the curtains and looking out over the back garden.

"This is Yasashi's handiwork!" he said as he turned back.

He touched a hand to the mask on his own face, frowning at Yusuke as he did so.

"But how did you know this was the defence against her raspberry sundae?" he asked.

"As much as I'd like to pretend that I figured out something clever for once, I can't take credit for this one," Yusuke replied. "It was Koneko's idea. She put the mask on me and stayed with me until I woke up. We couldn't find Kuwabara anywhere in his house, so we came here to get you, and then we found Kuwabara in bed with you… And that's pretty much where we are now."

"Koneko?" Kurama said, crawling off of his bed and standing up to look directly at the spirit world key keeper. "How is it that you are here?"

"Oh sure, change the subject," Yusuke drawled. "Pretend to be surprised that Koenma sent us help rather than try to explain why Kuwabara was in your bed in his underwear…"

"I didn't know you would continue to exist after Yasashi's soul left your body," Kurama continued, moving a step closer to Koneko.

"We don't have time to discuss that right now," she replied. "I can't disarm the flowers and there are more at Keiko's house."

"I can disarm them," Kurama replied. "But I don't understand: where are the others?"

"Nobody knows," Yusuke said. "Though Koneko said Keiko and Shizuru went to see Koenma in prison yesterday. They used Puu to get there, which explains why the hell we couldn't find any of them yesterday."

Kurama nodded.

"We must hurry," he said. "I will disarm the flowers here and the ones at Kuwabara's house. You all go on ahead to Keiko's house, I will meet you there shortly."

"Right," Yusuke agreed.

Koneko left the room and Yusuke started after her, only pausing in the doorway when nobody else followed him.

"Hurry and dress yourself, Kuwabara," Kurama said.

"…I can't find my clothes…" Kuwabara muttered. "Though… I don't even remember coming here…"

"You must have somehow managed to temporarily resist the effects of the raspberry sundae," Kurama replied. "When you are able to do so, it's akin to being on a drug or intoxicated: little of the world around you makes any sense and you rarely remember what happened afterwards."

"Whoa… So then why did I come here?"

"For a booty call?" Yusuke suggested, the shape of his eyes suggesting that he was grinning behind his mask.

"Perhaps you came here to find out why your garden had been overtaken by flowers," Kurama suggested.

"Maybe… So why was I able to resist it if you weren't, Kurama?" Kuwabara asked. "Shouldn't you be the one who can resist it best, what with you being the plant expert and all?"

Kurama shook his head.

"Resistance of the raspberry sundae's effects has nothing to do with an individual's spirit or demon power or abilities," he explained. "It takes a psychic trigger to allow someone to fight the effects. Was someone trying to communicate with you?"

Kuwabara slowly shook his head before looking down at his right hand. He extended his little finger and wiggled it tentatively, the red thread attached to it feeling oddly slack.

"I can't feel Yukina," he said.

"So what's new?" Yusuke muttered.

"Shut-up Urameshi, this is serious!" Kuwabara snapped. "I can't feel her! Something bad must have happened… Where is she?"

"If she's not in this house, then she must still be on Ping Island, or…"

Kurama slowly looked away but his attempts to be evasive only made Kuwabara all the more insistent.

"Or what, Kurama?" he demanded.

"Or she went to demon world with Grizabella and Bombalurina," Yusuke flatly answered.

"What?" Kuwabara echoed.

"Let's not waste any more time," Kurama said. "You go on ahead, I will start work on removing the flowers here."

When neither Kuwabara nor Yusuke made any attempt to move Kurama sighed.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I'm sorta almost naked over here…" Kuwabara said timidly. "Can I borrow some of your clothes, Kurama?"

"We're hardly the same shirt size," Kurama pointed out. "Go down the hall and check in my step-father's closet, you might find something there that will fit at a stretch."

Kuwabara nodded and hurried out the room; but Yusuke remained by the doorway, watching Kurama with what still looked like a grin.

""Let's not waste any more time"?" he said. "Yeah, I bet you don't wanna waste any more time, right buddy?"

Kurama frowned, genuinely at a loss as to what Yusuke was implying.

"Come on!" Yusuke said. "Admit it: you just wanna get to demon world so that you can flaunt your foxy form in front of Raspberry Salad."

"Yusuke, please, this is a dire matter," Kurama replied. "I assure you, such idle fancies are the furthest things from my mind at such a time."

"Sure they are," Yusuke replied. "She prefers you as Yoko though, right?"

Kurama lowered his head in defeat.

"She did make me feel as though she thought of the body of Shuichi as the Clark Kent to Yoko's Superman," he admitted.

"Oh, Superman, huh?" Yusuke asked. "Yeah, I can see that… Yoko Kurama goes running in, faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than-"

"Oh, Yusuke, give it a rest."

Kurama marched past him and out into the hallway.

"Bet she'd love to see you right now," Yusuke called after him. "Shuichi in his pyjamas is catnip for cat demons!"

* * *

Shizuru tugged Keiko down, flattening her to the ground, and the cat demons around them copied their actions: but Yukina stayed on her feet, her smile never faltering as a blazing black shadow swept by, incinerating two of the pussy willow trees in its path and scorching branches on most of the others. The shadow pressed on down the hillside and Yukina turned to follow the length of it back to its origin, her smile widening as she saw Hiei standing at the top of the hill, his arm outstretched, controlling the dragon of the darkness flame as it raced towards Jagasame and his soldiers.

She had always known that Hiei would not let them down, she had always known that he would be there when he was needed the most.

She turned back to the valley in time to see half of Jagasame's soldiers turn into black stains on the hillside. They had scattered following Hiei's arrival, but the dragon was arcing around to come back for the remainder of them: but, as Yukina watched, Jagasame appeared to make a getaway. No more than two of his soldiers made it over the ridge of the hillside with him, the others all falling victim to the dragon. After two fruitless sweeps of the hillside, the dragon retracted back, sweeping back up the hillside and winding its way around Hiei's arm once more.

Hiei, with the dragon once more contained, walked down the slope a little clumsily, his eyes drooping but his face still managing to retain a look of irritation. He stopped in front of Yukina, grabbing the catkin from her shoulder and squashing it in his hand before obliterating the second catkin that had been attacking her leg with a single kick.

"You saved us, Hiei! I always knew you were our friend!"

Hiei glared through the remains of the pussy willow trees at Yasashi, who was hurrying towards him. He held up a hand and she halted at Yukina's side.

"Don't you dare hug me," he warned her.

He fell to one knee and she crouched down in front of him, starting to reach out towards him.

"Not even after I lose consciousness," he added.

His eyelids drooped further and he fell softly forwards, his descent only stopping when Puu reached out and caught the back of his vest in his beak. The spirit beast picked Hiei up and placed him on his back.

"Talk about good timing!" Keiko said as she stood up.

"I wish he'd got here a little earlier," Yasashi said sadly. "Ideally before Jagasame got his filthy paws on Tora…"

She looked back over her shoulder and Yukina quickly grabbed her arm.

"Please, don't do it."

Yasashi turned to look down at her through a frown.

"I know you want to go down there and recover Tora, to pay respects to her the same way we did for Oyama, but it's too dangerous," Yukina explained.

"I suppose you're right…" Yasashi reluctantly agreed.

She looked around her fellow rebels, who had all gone very quiet.

"Tora was very brave," she told them. "And I know she worked very hard to keep you all going in my absence. We will avenge her, I promise you all."

Yasashi gave one last solemn look around her group before turning to Hiei, who was still slouched over Puu's shoulders.

"I am still glad that Hiei came," she said. "If he hadn't come when he did, we may have suffered more tragedies. And he took out a good portion of Jagasame's little army with his dragon!"

"I knew he would help us," Yukina said.

Yasashi nodded and walked over to Puu's side, tilting her head to look at Hiei's sleeping face. She lifted her hands but Yukina leapt in front of her, holding up her hands and shaking her head.

"I was just going to…" Yasashi said quietly.

"Even though he's sleeping now, he will still know you've hugged him," Yukina quietly replied.

Yasashi nodded and stepped back.

"So what now?" Shizuru asked. "I assume it's too risky to take the farm right now, with us all weak, tired and sore… Is there anywhere else we can go to get some rest?"

Yasashi looked about herself before pointing back up the hill.

"There's an old storage bunker over there," she said. "It's not much, but we can take shifts sleeping and keeping guard until the morning."

"That sounds good to me," Keiko said.

The others all started back up the hill but Yukina waited with Yasashi, following everyone else from the rear.

"I'm sorry about…" Yasashi said, touching a hand lightly to the bite-marks on Yukina's shoulder. "This…"

"I understand why you acted the way you did," Yukina replied. "But if Mister Hiei hadn't come to help when he did, you would have been killed. The rebels need you."

Yasashi nodded solemnly.

"I need you," Yukina added.

Yasashi smiled.

"It is nice to have friends with me – old and new," she said.

"Will you ever tell Keiko and Shizuru the truth?"

Yukina watched Yasashi expectantly, but the rebel leader kept facing the way they were walking.

"I'm sure it would be okay," Yukina added.

"No," Yasashi said quietly. "I don't want to talk about what I did and what I was in spirit world."

"Oh…" Yukina said, feeling guilty then for having mentioned the matter. "But… We all loved what you were in spirit world."

Yasashi smiled tightly but kept her head facing forwards.

"Let's just get some rest," she said.

Yukina decided not to push the matter any further then, instead continuing on in silence, the old bunker Yasashi had spoken of shortly coming into view.

* * *

Kurama's hands were on the ground but his eyes were on Koneko. She looked a little tense, standing at the edge of the garden with Yusuke, who was still making wisecracks about Kuwabara's outfit, which consisted of a pair of too-short sweatpants, a painfully tight T-shirt and a woollen Argyle cardigan that aged him considerably; but the fact that Koneko was physically present raised several questions in Kurama's mind.

As the flowers wilted, Kurama realised that he did not really know how Yasashi's soul had become encased in the body of a spirit in spirit world. Her circumstances had not been entirely like his own, after all. He had put his own soul in Shuichi's body, a demon soul contained within a human vessel; but Yasashi had appeared to have become a spirit, somehow literally transforming from a demon into a spirit. Koneko bore more than a passing resemblance to Yasashi and Kurama had assumed that her transformation had been the result of some sort of power Koenma had, something that had sacrificed her demon energy in return for the preservation of her life energy, changing her into "Koneko" – a name that seemed ridiculous, under the circumstances.

Koneko was avoiding looking directly back at him and he had to wonder why. He thought it odd that Yasashi had separated from her to create two individual souls, but even if that was exactly what had happened, he wondered if Koneko now had any understanding of who or what Yasashi was: Yasashi had claimed that, as long as she had been a spirit, she had had no memories of her demon life, and yet when she returned to her demon form, she appeared to remember her life in spirit world. So then what did Koneko know and was her knowledge the reason for her current evasiveness?

Kurama stood up as the last of the flowers faded, nodding at Yusuke and Kuwabara, who gladly removed their face masks.

"I suggest we hold onto these for now," Kurama warned as he removed his own face mask.

"What about all the people still sleeping in our houses?" Kuwabara asked.

"Now that the source of their protracted slumber is gone, they will wake with time," Kurama replied. "Probably not as quickly as we did after having these masks placed upon us: the effects wear off much quicker on those with higher levels of spirit or demon energy. They should be fine and there is no quick and easy way to speed the process up. I suggest we locate Shizuru, Keiko and Puu and then we should proceed to demon world, where I suspect we will find Yukina and the rebel cat demons."

"Right, let's proceed to demon world," Yusuke agreed with a smirk. "Wouldn't wanna make you late for your date with your dance partner, Yoko…"

"Yusuke, please…" Kurama groaned.

Yusuke and Kuwabara started to leave and Kurama grabbed Koneko's arm before she could follow them.

"We need to talk, you and I," he said to her as she turned to him.

"I have nothing to say to you," she replied. "I'm here by order of Prince Koenma and it seems as though my work here is done. I should return to spirit world before my absence is noticed."

Kurama held onto her arm as she tried to move on and she shot him a look that was an odd blend of defiance and fear.

"I need to ask you a couple of questions about Yasashi," he said.

"And I need to return to spirit world," she stubbornly replied. "Now unhand me."

She tugged at Kurama's hold and he released her, if only because of the increasingly fearful look in her eyes.

"Come on Kurama, let's go already!" Yusuke called back to him.

Kurama looked over at Yusuke and Kuwabara, who had already left the garden and then back at Koneko, who had backed away from him during his brief moment of distraction.

"Perhaps another time," he said.

She gave him a strange look and he started after Yusuke and Kuwabara. After a few steps he stopped and looked back, but Koneko had vanished. Feeling no less sure of the reason for the key keeper's appearance, Kurama continued on his way and joined up with Yusuke and Kuwabara on the street outside of Keiko's house.

"So we're missing a twin sister, a big sister and a spirit detective," Yusuke said.

Kuwabara looked perplexed and Kurama leaned closer to Yusuke.

"Be mindful Yusuke," he warned in a whisper. "Kuwabara is still unaware of the relation between Hiei and Yukina."

"Still?" Yusuke echoed.

"Huh?" Kuwabara grunted.

"I said where do you think your sister and Keiko might be?" Yusuke lied.

"Is it possible they went to visit Kuroko for further training and guidance?" Kurama suggested.

"Well the last time I saw Yukina she was on Ping Island," Kuwabara said.

"Kuroko's place is miles away and takes forever to get to," Yusuke pointed out. "And we don't really have time to waste running down dead-ends."

"Right, you think they went to demon world with the cat ladies?" Kuwabara asked. "Should we just go there?"

Yusuke ran his eyes over Kuwabara with a sneer.

"I'm not going anywhere with you dressed like that," he said.

"If Hiei hadn't run off like he did he could have helped us find everybody with his extra eyeball…" Kuwabara grumbled.

"I wonder where the little pain the ass is right now?" Yusuke mused.

* * *

Shizuru slowly walked around the interior of the old bunker, looking over the others as she did so. The little girls were asleep and their mother was rapidly joining them, Keiko had also fallen asleep and Yukina was fighting sleep to continue healing wounds where she could. Chita and three others were outside the bunker on watch duty with Puu, and the others were all either cleaning their wounds or readying themselves for sleep. In a small room at the back corner of the bunker, Hiei was sleeping off the effects of using his attack; and, as she approached the open doorway to the room, Shizuru saw that Yasashi was still in the room with him. Hiei was lying flat out by the back wall of the room and Yasashi was standing at the opposite side of the room watching him with a strange look on her face.

"Hey," Shizuru said as she entered the room. "Everything okay in here?"

Yasashi slowly shook her head; and Shizuru wondered then if the rebel leader had sensed what she had when Hiei had unleashed his dragon of darkness flame earlier that day.

"I can't believe Tora is gone," Yasashi said quietly.

Shizuru moved closer and put a hand on her shoulder, but she did not respond to the gesture.

"I know it's gotta be hard," Shizuru said gently. "But you did know you probably wouldn't make it through this without some losses."

"I couldn't have started the rebellion without Tora," Yasashi said, her eyes still on Hiei and her voice still hushed. "She was my closest friend for so long. It's too cruel that I came back and only got the briefest amount of time with my best friend and…"

Shizuru waited for Yasashi to continue, but it quickly became apparent that she would not.

"The others feel the loss too," Shizuru said. "And you need to be strong for them. Tora wouldn't want you to be hiding away and feeling sad. She'd want you to fight harder and win this."

"It's just not fair," Yasashi replied.

"I know," Shizuru said. "But you should get some sleep now, you need your rest."

"I can't sleep."

"You should try."

"I'm on the next watch shift and I couldn't possibly sleep anyway."

Shizuru turned to look back over her shoulder, double-checking that Keiko was asleep before turning back to Yasashi.

"Look, I know this must be really hard for you," she said. "You lost two friends today and I know you feel conflicted, caught between your life in spirit world and your life here in demon world, but there's no going back for you now. If you and the rest of the rebels want to survive this, you have to fight it, and fighting it would be a lot easier if you accepted some help."

Yasashi turned to Shizuru.

"You mean I shouldn't have tried to stop you all from following me when I tried to confront Jagasame today," she said.

"No, I mean you have three pretty good fighters waiting in the wings and they're only a trip back to the living world away," Shizuru replied.

Yasashi's face dropped.

"I know you don't want to drag your friends from your spirit life into the fight your involved with in your demon life, but they were willing to help you before they even knew who you were," Shizuru continued. "I just think if Yusuke, Kurama and my brother knew the truth, they'd be here in a heartbeat and they'd turn that Jagasame guy into mincemeat."

Yasashi smiled humourlessly.

"It is a tempting offer," she said. "But you know I don't really even want you, Keiko or even Yukina here and involved in this."

"But we are here and we are involved in this," Shizuru replied. "And if you're worried about us getting hurt, why don't you call in the boys who usually go to such great lengths to make sure we don't get hurt?"

"It's so difficult…" Yasashi said, shaking her head. "I know Hiei only appeared when he did because he sensed Yukina was in danger."

She turned her attention back to Hiei and Shizuru swallowed back the urge to tell Yasashi that she was almost certain that Hiei had at least one other reason for joining the fight.

"You know the other boys will be disappointed if they find out Hiei got to be a part of this and they missed out, right?" she said instead.

Yasashi smiled.

"Oh Shizuru, you do know how to cheer me up," she said. "But you know, you should get some sleep."

She turned to fully face Shizuru, putting a hand on her shoulder and guiding her – rather firmly, Shizuru noted – back out of the room. Shizuru considered trying one last time to convince Yasashi to rest or warning her that Hiei might have other motives, but as she was tired – and she could sense that the rebel leader wanted to be alone with her thoughts – she instead moved over to where Keiko was sleeping and tried to find a position nearby to get some sleep herself.

* * *

"He's sure taking his sweet time…" Yusuke grumbled, kicking a discarded soda can along the pier.

When Kurama did not respond, Yusuke stopped pacing and turned to the fox demon, finding him looking out across the water with a faraway look in his eyes.

"Hey lover boy, I was talking to you!" Yusuke shouted at him.

"Yusuke, please…" Kurama groaned.

"Aw, come on!" Yusuke said. "Just admit it: me and Kuwabara are going to demon world because we're worried about the girls, but you're just going so you can flash your foxy tail at catwoman."

Kurama shook his head.

"Yusuke, this is not really the time for jokes," he said.

"When Kuwabara gets back and we start doing something useful, it won't be the time for jokes," Yusuke said. "But right now… Who cares? So admit it: it's killed you being stuck as Shuichi around catwoman and you can't wait to see her as your demon self again."

Kurama gave a small hint of a smile.

"Alright," he said. "I shall concede that there is a small part of me that will relish confronting Yasashi in my full demon form. The past few days have felt like-"

"Yeah, yeah, you were Clark Kent and she was Superman, I get it," Yusuke interrupted.

"Not quite," Kurama replied. "I think she thought of herself as a lioness, the hunter and leader of her pack, and Shuichi was but a lamb in her eyes."

"More animal puns?"

"And now she has gone to confront the loyalists, her followers blindly going with her like a herd of sheep themselves, and, in more cases than one, it is just like the proverbial lamb being led to slaughter."

"That's a lot of animal puns…"

"Animal analogies. And the whole thing is irrelevant anyway: our time together is fleeting, after all. Even if she survives this, she will remain in demon world thereafter with her clan and I will remain here in the living world. Just like the last time around, our time together was brilliant but brief."

"You were just passing each other by, like two sheeps in the night."

Kurama gave Yusuke a pained look, but Yusuke grinned back at him.

"You're going to be like this until we find the girls, aren't you?" Kurama asked.

"You make it so easy," Yusuke replied. "I'm not even trying over here! You're just handing me these nuggets of gold, and I'm just polishing them."

"Here's Kuwabara," Kurama said, the relief evident in his voice. "And he's alone, so we should continue to Ping Island."

He threw a seed onto the water that turned into a leaf boat as Kuwabara rejoined them, once more in his own clothes.

"I called Kuroko and I checked with my sister's boss," Kuwabara said. "Nobody knows where Shizuru or Keiko is, and I still can't feel Yukina."

Kurama nodded and once more donned the mask Koneko had made. Kuwabara copied his actions and Yusuke reluctantly followed suit, before all three leapt onto the leaf and took off towards Ping Island. With the wind on their side, they reached their destination quickly; though it was obvious from some distance back that the island had been taken over by more of Yasashi's flowers. All three disembarked the boat on the beach and split up to quickly check for any sleeping bodies; when they found none, they continued to the other side of the island, where Kurama created another leaf boat.

"There's a portal to demon world up ahead," Kurama explained as they boarded the boat.

"It's getting late," Kuwabara said, looking up at the darkening sky overhead. "I can't believe we lost the whole day."

"Let us hope that we reach the others before they are caught by bounty hunters or loyalist soldiers," Kurama said.

"Okay Superman," Yusuke said, smirking insolently.

"Yusuke…" Kurama groaned.

* * *

Yasashi watched Shizuru roll up her coat to make herself a pillow and then curl up on the floor to sleep. She hoped that the bunker would give them all a place to rest peacefully for the night, as none of those around her were fit to battle the loyalists as they were. The bunker was quietening down as most of those inside had fallen asleep: even Yukina had ceased her nursing duties and made a bed for herself.

"Sleep well, girls," Yasashi whispered as she scanned around the bunker from her position in the doorway of the small room.

A sharp slapping sound pierced her ears and made her flinch involuntarily, and when it came again she stiffened. Again and again she heard it, slow and rhythmically sounding out behind her. She slowly turned her head to look back over her shoulder, her face dropping as she found Hiei standing at the other end of the room, slowly clapping his hands. She quickly glanced out at the others again to confirm that none of them had heard his disturbance before quickly and quietly closing the room door, shutting herself in with Hiei.

"Quite the stellar performance as the pathetic, bleeding heart liberal, rebel leader," Hiei said sarcastically as she turned to him.

"I don't know what you mean," she said quietly, pressing her back to the door.

"Don't even try to lie to me," he replied. "I know what's really going on here."

Yasashi shook her head and Hiei snorted as though amused by her response.

"You think there are only three people who know the truth, and you've done such a fantastic job of indisposing one and disposing of another," he said. "But I'm here to stop you continuing your tactics on the third."

"Hiei, I honestly have no idea what you mean," Yasashi insisted.

"I'm talking about Raspberry Sundae," Hiei replied. "You know, that little file in spirit world? The file that only Koenma knew the contents of? You got him detained and you thought your problems were over: with him out of the way, nobody else knew what was in that file, nobody else knew the truth – the whole, unadulterated truth – about the leader of the rebel cat demons."

Yasashi frowned and Hiei snorted again.

"But then Yukina read the file and Tora read Yukina's mind," he continued. "So you had two more people in your way. It was easy for you to get rid of Tora – you even managed to make it look like an accident – and now all that remains is for you to get rid of Yukina. Or so you thought. Did you really think I wouldn't find out what was really going on too?"

Hiei pointed at the bandana around his forehead and Yasashi paled.

"Yes that's right," he said. "I read Yukina's mind too. I know what's in the Raspberry Sundae file. I know the truth. I know everything."

Yasashi gulped audibly.

"Please don't tell anyone what you know," she said quietly. "But I must say, you're wrong about my letting Koenma be arrested or my letting Tora die! It was always my intention to go back to aid Koenma, and Tora was my best friend, my closest ally and my strongest fighter: I can't bear what has happened to her!"

"Like I said, it's quite the act you put on," Hiei replied, clearly unmoved by her words. "But let me just make a few things abundantly clear to you: I don't trust you, I don't like you and one day, very soon, I will collect the bounty on your head."

"I don't care if you kill me or give me to the loyalists," Yasashi replied. "But please Hiei, if you do know what's in that file, please don't tell anyone else what you know."

"I have seen what's in that file," Hiei assured her. "I've seen how you acted as an informant for spirit world in return for a place to live. You gave them information that let them take down a gang of thieves I knew of, a gang of thieves who would otherwise still be functioning in demon world. You almost got yourself killed, but Koenma took pity on you and used the crystal of change to save your life."

Yasashi took a step away from the door.

"Yes, that's true," she said quietly. "But just because you know that, it doesn't follow that–"

"The crystal was supposed to draw in what little demon and life energy you had left and use that energy to create an alternate identity and appearance for you," Hiei cut her off. "It didn't work as well as Koenma expected it too though. He misread the information he had on the crystal in his panic. He thought the reference to opposite colouring meant that your hair would turn green and your eyes would turn orange: but the opposite effect the text referred to was that your hair and eye colour became switched when you transformed, turning your pink hair blue and your blue eyes pink."

"Yes, but–"

"Don't interrupt me. When he saw the result, Koenma panicked and relocated one of his ferry girls who bore a passing resemblance to your demon form, renaming her "Koneko" and charging her with looking after the file containing all of your secrets. After all, it seemed logical that anyone looking for you would be deceived by the lookalike decoy who protected the file containing all of your deepest, darkest secrets."

"Please don't say anything to–"

"Don't interrupt me! I haven't got to the best part yet!"

"What are you talking about? That's it! That's everything! You know everything!"

"Yukina cried when she read the Raspberry Sundae file. Not because she discovered that her old friend Yasashi was still alive, not when she saw that her old friend Yasashi was actually closer to her than she thought – and by the way, was it really any more imaginative for Koenma to name you after the Raspberry Sundae when you were in your spirit form than for him to name his decoy Koneko?"

"Yes, well, I suppose calling me "Botan" wasn't the least obvious choice of name–"

"Stop interrupting me. Yukina didn't cry because she was happy that you were still alive, she didn't cry when she discovered that the cat demon famous for using a peony was actually the idiotic ferry girl named after a peony, she cried when she read your last words."

Yasashi froze.

"Oh, I see you didn't know Koenma noted down your last words in the file he kept on you," Hiei said with a grin. "But he did. And Yukina read them. Every last one."

Yasashi shook her head.

"You act like the martyred hero of your people, but you betrayed that image as you faced death," Hiei continued. "And in that respect, I don't know if you last words make you more or less demon. After you had finished pretending to care about the future of your friends and followers, you pitifully sold out one more demon to spirit world."

"Wh-what?"

"That's right. That's in your file. Hn, if you really didn't know that was in your file maybe I was wrong about you wanting Koenma, Tora and Yukina out of the way. But still, I have to ask you: how do you think Kurama will feel when he finds out that the woman he thought was such a "magnificent creature" is in fact the double-crossing bitch who sent the SDF after him and cursed him to the human life he now suffers?"


	19. Superman

**Chapter 19 – Superman**

"Is Yasashi your people's word for Kryptonite?"

Kuwabara peered over at Yusuke, who was hanging from a frond of Kurama's floating leaf, grinning up at Kurama expectantly after his last remark.

"Is it a bird?" Yusuke continued. "Is it a plane? No, it Butterfly Yoko Kurama Superman!"

Kuwabara reaffirmed his grip of the frond he was hanging from, looking up at Kurama anxiously. Since they had entered demon world, Kurama had reverted back to his full demon form and they had been reliant on his help to float through the red skies to their destination; which Kurama had told them was a place called "the hinterlands". But Kurama had been growing tired of Yusuke's jokes back in the living world, back when he was still in the infinitely more sympathetic body of Shuichi Minamino: now that he was once more Yoko Kurama, he was looking increasingly irate and Kuwabara was more than a little afraid of the gradual increase of demon energy he could feel rising around Kurama.

"Is you hair silver now because you're the man of steel?" Yusuke asked, still grinning up at Kurama.

"Uh, Urameshi?" Kuwabara tried.

"Do you have a pair of blue tights on under those pants?" Yusuke asked Kurama.

"Urameshi?" Kuwabara tried again.

"Can you make lasers shoot out your eyes?"

Kuwabara looked up at Kurama again and distinctly saw his golden eyes thin as though the last of his patience had just dissipated into the sickly demon world air.

"Faster than a speeding bullet!" Yusuke continued. "More powerful than a locomotive! Able to-ah!"

Kuwabara clutched tighter than ever at the frond of Kurama's floating leaf as he watched Yusuke plummet through the air towards the ground. Once he had lost sight of his friend he slowly looked up at Kurama again, wincing as he found Kurama already glaring directly at him.

"What happened?" Kuwabara asked, his voice an octave higher than usual in his panic.

"My foot slipped," Kurama quietly replied.

Kuwabara gulped: it did look as though Kurama had kicked Yusuke in the head, causing him to lose his grip of the frond – which, to be fair, he had only been holding loosely in one hand.

"Pray that it doesn't slip again," Kurama added.

Kuwabara yelped fearfully and wound his legs around the frond he was holding. He grinned nervously at Kurama when he found the fox demon still glaring down at him and then sighed in relief when Kurama moved his eyes forward and his demeanour appeared to relax slightly. But, Kuwabara noticed apprehensively, the relaxation in Kurama's demeanour was only slight: for the most part he was still fired up and lethally focused.

* * *

Yasashi shook her head, her voice failing her as tears threatened. A part of her felt as though she had cried far more since returning to her demon form than she ever had in her life before then – both her life as cat demon Yasashi and her life as ferry girl Botan combined – and she determined not to give in to her emotions again, least of all in front of Hiei.

"I don't understand," she said, once the initial shock of Hiei's accusation had passed and she was able to form words coherently. "I didn't send the SDF after Kurama. I lack both the authority and the knowledge to do that, not to mention the fact that I considered Kurama an ally. I met him several times in demon world, and he was an active bandit at the time, a bandit who had moonlighted as a bounty hunter many times over, and I was, back then, the highest bounty to be had in all of demon world. He could easily have captured me and cashed in the prize attached to my name, but he never did, because we had an understanding and appreciation of each other."

"You're a real master of bullshit, Botan," Hiei scoffed. "I understand now why Koenma was so keen to preserve your life and take into his employ. I see what you're doing: you're trying to spin this to make yourself sound innocent. You're a regular spin-doctor, ferry girl; you used the same pathetic tricks on me during Yusuke's time as spirit detective. So little is different about the crap you're talking now and the crap you spoke when you were Yusuke's assistant, I have to wonder how dense Kurama was that he never recognised you before now."

Yasashi chewed at her lip and Hiei narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously. Her eyes wandered to the bandana around his head – she was surprised that he had not mentioned its presence there, as she had been the one to put it back on him while he slept – and she contemplated the fact that it was useless trying to lie to Hiei as long as he had his jagan eye. Yukina had minimal control over the jagan eye she had acquired and Tora has only been able to control the basics of the power, but Hiei was a jaganshi – a true master of the jagan eye – and he had always been able to read her thoughts effortlessly.

But, thinking about how Hiei had often read her thoughts when she had been working with him as part of the spirit detective team, an idea occurred to Yasashi; apparently her handling of Hiei on this mission was going to be no different to how she had been forced to deal with him during the mission to stop Sensui.

"Kurama doesn't recognise me now," she said carefully. "Nobody does – except Shizuru – and only Yukina and you know, through your knowledge of the file spirit world kept of my life, that I was Botan. I'd like to keep it that way."

"I find it unlikely that Kurama has not figured that out already," Hiei replied. "At the very least, surely Yusuke's woman has seen through you: she was always at least quite intelligent."

Yasashi slowly shook her head.

"If I had told you all that I was Botan, you all would have joined my fight," she explained. "I know you would have, because if anyone else amongst our group had re-awoken as the leader of a lost cause, I would have risked everything to fight at their side and support them in any way I could. I didn't want anyone to get involved with my cause because they felt an obligation to help "Botan"."

"How incredibly noble of you," Hiei sarcastically replied.

"I'm being genuine," Yasashi insisted. "And I'm still at a loss as to why you think I would sell Kurama out: to the SDF, to Koenma or to anyone else."

"You can cut the crap," Hiei said. "Koenma wrote down every one of your dying words into the Raspberry Sundae file. Every damn word is in there."

"My memories of my death may be sketchy, but I don't recall betraying Kurama at any point."

"You should already know that it's pointless to lie to me."

Yasashi's eyes flicked back to Hiei's bandana as a faint blue glow appeared through the fabric, a sign that he had opened his third eye.

"Fine," she said with a sigh. "I admit that the last words I spoke were about Kurama. But I did not suggest to Koenma – or to anyone else – that Kurama should be hunted down and slain by the SDF as he was."

"You told Koenma who Kurama was, that he was a bandit, that he frequented regions of demon world that spirit world were trying to conquer and you told them when and where they could go to find him," Hiei flatly replied. "Taking out a powerful A Class demon like Yoko Kurama from one of the regions they were looking to take over was the perfect way for the SDF to send a message to any other demons in the area that they should retreat and yield the land to spirit world."

"I admit that I spoke the name Yoko Kurama to Koenma," Yasashi said. "But certainly not in the context that you are implying I did."

"Are you denying that you told Koenma where and when he could find the legendary spirit fox bandit?"

Yasashi paused, a vague sense of guilt nagging at her. Her memories of her death really were sketchy, but her memories of her final moments before Koenma had inserted the crystal of change into her body were painfully clear; but Hiei was the last person she wanted to discuss those moments with. She was still shocked that Koenma had not only noted down what she had said, but that he had entered her words into the file he had kept on her in spirit world.

She sneered involuntarily as she remembered chasing Koneko through the halls of King Enma's temple in a vain attempt to get the key keeper to admit where the Raspberry Sundae file was. If only she had been able to see the file before Captain Ootake had cut the crystal of change out of her, freeing her demon energy and allowing her body to return to its true form.

"I just told him…" she began, the feeling of guilt and frustration increasing as she tried to answer Hiei's question. "About how I would often encounter Kurama by the hate fish lake, and how he never laughed at my hate fish jokes, and that… I… Wait…"

"Yes, now you admit it," Hiei said with a dark smile. "You told Koenma where and when you always saw Kurama and he was able to use that information to send the SDF out to catch him."

"But – even if that is true, even if the SDF did find Kurama because of something I told them – it was never my intention to set Kurama up like that!" Yasashi said. "I didn't say the things I did because I was trying to betray anyone! I was talking about… What exactly did the file say I was talking about?"

"You'd like me to tell you that, wouldn't you?"

"Well maybe what's in the file isn't an entirely accurate reflection of the conversation I shared with Koenma. I've never seen the file: how do I know you're not bluffing?"

Hiei's face twisted into a sneer and he clenched his fists at his sides, his muscles flexing in a way that would have left Botan blue with fear: but as Yasashi, although she was still not in the same league as Hiei, he was no longer so easily able to enact any death threats he might throw at her.

"Are you calling me a liar, Botan?" he growled.

"No," she calmly replied. "If anything, I'm calling Koenma a liar."

"I think you're the one who's bluffing, witch," Hiei snarled. "I could smell the panic radiating off of you when I mentioned having knowledge of your final words: don't try to pretend now that you don't have a problem with those words being shared with Kurama or anyone else."

"First of all Hiei, you're a fire demon, you don't have the ability to smell emotions," Yasashi flatly replied. "I know that now that I am once more a demon myself. I might have believed you were I still trapped as Botan, without access to the knowledge I have as a demon, but that is not the case any more. Secondly, yes, I admit that I did panic: I fear my followers learning what my last words were because they would think me weak, pathetic and incapable of continuing to lead the rebellion, and I fear Kurama learning what my last words were for the same reasons and because some of what I said to Koenma were things I should have said to Kurama face-to-face. Some of the things I said to Koenma were things I always intended to say to Kurama face-to-face, but the time had not arrived for me to do so. My death was inconveniently timed for more reasons than one."

"It's nice to hear how returning to your demon form has increased your intelligence and eloquence, but I remain unconvinced: when I consider the words you spoke and the fact that, less than five years later, the SDF found Kurama in the exact location you had implied he frequented, I believe that you said what you did to sell him out."

"You're wrong."

"You're wrong."

"You and I have always shared one thing in common Hiei: we're both too stubborn to relent on an argument. We could stand here all night like this."

"That won't happen."

"It seems as though it will."

"No, it won't. As we speak, Kurama approaches."

Yasashi's face dropped.

"Yes, it seems Kurama, Yusuke and even that giant idiot Kuwabara have broken free of your little trap to hold them back and they are all on their way here right now," Hiei added.

"You can't tell Kurama what I said to Koenma, you have no right," Yasashi said sternly. "And your assumptions that I was trying to incriminate him in any way are mere speculation on your part and wildly inaccurate!"

"We both agree that Kurama is intelligent and insightful," Hiei replied. "So when he gets here – which will be within the hour – let's ask him for his opinion on the matter, shall we?"

Yasashi scowled at Hiei and he grinned back. With a smug "hn", he started to walk towards the door, only stopping when Yasashi grabbed his arm. He glared down at her hand around his bicep before lifting his head to fix angry red eyes onto her.

"Like you said Hiei, many things may have changed about me since I transformed back into Yasashi, but I do still think the same way as Botan," she said. "After all, she was me, I was her, just without my demon powers or memories. She always had an ace up her sleeve, a bargaining tool to bring you into line, and I am no different."

"Are you threatening me?" Hiei asked in a low voice.

"Yes I am," Yasashi replied, lowering her voice to match his tone. "If you repeat so much as one of my final words to Kurama, I will not hesitate to tell Yukina that you are the brother she seeks."

Hiei growled and bared his teeth at her but Yasashi held her stance.

"It seems we are at a stalemate, Hiei," she said.

"Hn, only the desperate resort to blackmail," he said, yanking his arm out of her hold.

"Remember that, despite how you knew me in the past, I am now a demon," Yasashi reminded him. "I am no longer morally above using blackmail to protect my own interests."

Hiei smiled bitterly.

"There's a part of me that almost respects you for that," he said.

"I hope you respect me enough to know that I meant what I said," Yasashi replied. "Yukina is my friend, and you perhaps forget that I died escorting her on one of her journeys to find you: if you hadn't hidden yourself from her, neither she nor I would have been in Iruka's path that day. She would not have suffered the trauma of losing her friend and I would not have been killed and forced to spend the next thirty years living in ignorance in spirit world. If I were as big a fan of conspiracies as you appear to be, I could blame you for my circumstances, and if I were to apply the same logic you have to my situation, I could say that telling Yukina the truth would be the right thing for me to do."

"The link between your death and my relation to Yukina is tenuous at best," Hiei replied. "Whereas it's painfully clear that the link between Kurama's death and your idle disclosure to spirit world is direct and logical."

Yasashi scowled at Hiei and he returned the gesture before opening the door.

"Hiei," Yasashi said, her speaking his name proving only enough to halt him in his tracks. "Do you remember how, when you first saw me in this form on Ping Island, you asked me why Koenma had not released me to assist you in your fight against the Four Saint Beasts or to assist during the dark tournament?"

Hiei made a small grunt of acknowledgement.

"If Koenma had released me sooner, if he had released me to help Yusuke, I might have been present to help Yusuke recover the artefacts of darkness," Yasashi pointed out.

"Oh I see," Hiei dryly replied, glaring back over his shoulder at her. "You think you would have fought me if that had been the case?"

"Yes, I would have fought you, had that been the case," Yasashi flatly replied. "And you would not still be standing here to talk about it."

Hiei's patronising glare turned into a look of angered indignation.

"You may outclass me now, but you didn't back then," Yasashi reminded him.

"This conversation is like your life," Hiei sharply replied. "Pointless, meaningless and practically over."

He turned his head and walked on into the bunker. Yasashi moved to the doorway, watching him walk towards the exterior doors, which opened as her neared them. Chita ran into the bunker, looking about herself frantically. Yasashi held up a hand to catch her attention, but as the young cat demon ran towards her, Yasashi kept her eyes on Hiei, who had stopped just outside the bunker and was looking back in at her with a grin that bordered on creepy.

"Someone is coming!" Chita said as she stopped in front of Yasashi. "I can see dust tracks, someone is running this way from the direction of the road!"

Yasashi nodded.

"Keep everyone in here," she said.

Chita nodded and hurried back outside to round up the remainder of her fellow lookouts. Yasashi started across the bunker, pausing as she passed Shizuru, who, despite being still curled up in a sleeping position, had her eyes open.

"It's alright," Yasashi whispered to her. "It's just your brother, Yusuke and Kurama."

Shizuru's eyebrows flickered in a gesture of acknowledgement and Yasashi continued on. Chita and the other three cat demons who had been on watch duty past her in the doorway and so once she was outside she closed the bunker doors, shutting herself out with Hiei.

"It seems Yusuke was more eager to get here," Hiei casually commented, as though they had not just been arguing and exchanging threats with each other.

Yasashi squinted at the rising clouds of dust, barely making out the lone figure that was creating them as he sprinted towards the bunker. She briefly thought it odd that Yusuke knew where to find everyone: but, when she gave the matter a little more thought, she supposed that he had found plenty of clues en route, including the charred remains of a border patrol vehicle and its dozing crew, still glued to the road by a swathe of tree sap.

"I'll make a deal with you."

Yasashi turned to Hiei, surprised to find that he looked as though he was not being sarcastic, despite his tone having hinted as much.

"Though you deserve no such mercy," he added. "I will give you tonight to confess your dirty little lies to Kurama. If you don't tell him by sunrise tomorrow, I will."

Yasashi turned to look at Yusuke again, finding that he was close enough that she could actually see that it was him. She lifted her head and saw a silvery shape in the sky that appeared to be Yoko Kurama, airborne thanks to his floating leaf, and Kuwabara appeared to be hanging from one of the leaf's fronds.

"It's nice to know that, at dawn tomorrow, Yukina will finally get closure on the question of who her brother is," Yasashi said, turning her attention back to Hiei.

"I'll kill you before you betray me," Hiei frankly replied.

"You'll have to be quick."

"I don't expect to need to: when Kurama learns the truth about your treachery, he'll kill you himself."

Yasashi started to once again tell Hiei that he was mistaken, but she stopped as she heard Yusuke's feet drawing closer. She turned to watch him slow his pace to a gradual halt in front of them.

"Hiei!" he said, smiling at Hiei. "I knew you'd show up!"

"What the hell happened to you?" Hiei asked, eying him over.

Yusuke looked down at himself, briefly taking in his torn clothing and various scratches and bruises.

"It's a long story," he eventually answered, shrugging as though his dishevelled appearance was no big deal.

Kurama landed behind him and Kuwabara stepped away from him, looking worn out despite having had a free ride to his destination.

"So: what's the plan, Nermal?" Yusuke asked Yasashi.

"Nermal?" she echoed.

"Yeah," he said. "I've been itching to put that bastard Iruka in his place: and if your stupid flowers hadn't slowed me down, I'd have kicked his ass already."

"Funny you should say that," Yasashi said slowly. "Because you're a little too late to take a shot at Iruka."

Kurama and Kuwabara moved over to join Yusuke, who looked confused by Yasashi's words.

"The deputy leader of the loyalists is dead," Hiei bluntly explained.

Yasashi turned to him, her brow furrowing in confusion.

"One of the border patrol guards saw the big blue bird flying out of Hasibami Orchard," he said. "I went to investigate. I know what happened."

"Nothing gets by you, does it Hiei?" Yasashi tightly replied.

"Puu?" Yusuke asked. "What does Puu have to do with this?"

"Your girlfriend and her band of wanton warrior women used your spirit beast to travel here," Hiei replied. "They killed the deputy leader of the loyalist cat demons."

Yusuke's eyes almost popped out of his head.

"Are you talking about Keiko?" he asked.

"Yes," Hiei calmly replied. "Your girlfriend and Yukina killed the deputy leader of the loyalist cat demons. I think you all know what that means."

"Yukina killed somebody?" Kuwabara asked. "I don't get what that means, other than he must have been trying to kill everybody else and it was self-defence. Poor Yukina, she must have been terrified! If I'd been there I'da shown that–"

"I wasn't talking to you," Hiei cut him off. "You don't understand the implications because you are not of this world. Everybody else present understands it though."

Hiei purposefully looked around the others, hesitating when he reached Yusuke, who was shrugging at Kuwabara.

"Kurama understands," Hiei corrected himself. "And so does she," he added, flicking a thumb at Yasashi.

"Okay, so then explain it to me, fox bo–"

Yusuke stopped short as he met Kurama's eyes, faltering slightly under the glare the fox demon was regarding him with.

"Okay, I guess you're still recovering your sense of humour…" Yusuke muttered, before turning his attention to Yasashi. "Explain it to me, cat girl."

"I'm not au-fait with the ins and outs of the border patrol," Yasashi said. "Understand that they formed during my absence from demon world: however from experience, I would say that anyone caught interfering in the battle between the two factions of the cat demon tribe is always automatically branded as a member of the side they defend."

"…One more time, in a language I can understand?" Yusuke said.

"It will have been noted that Keiko, Shizuru, Yukina and even Puu actively took a stand against the loyalists in defence of the rebels," Yasashi replied. "They will now be branded as part of our group and treated as such from now on."

"…I don't see what the problem is…" Yusuke said.

"Keiko, Shizuru, Yukina and even Puu will now have bounties attached to their heads," Kurama bluntly answered him. "The loyalists will not have wasted time raising the bounties and the border patrol will have supported distributing the information."

"Are you kidding?" Yusuke echoed.

Kurama did not answer Yusuke, but Yusuke's face quickly dropped.

"Oh yeah, right," he muttered. "You don't have a sense of humour when you're Yoko…"

"Sensibly, we should extradite all four of them from demon world immediately," Kurama said.

"Okay, but you be the one to tell them that," Kuwabara said. "I'm not telling my crazy sister she has to go home…"

Kurama turned to Yasashi, who, as their eyes met, momentarily found herself frozen where she stood: of course she had seen Kurama in his full demon form before, but as it was the first time she had seen him that way since returning to her own demon body the moment felt sickeningly surreal. She was only awoken from the moment when she noticed Hiei watching her from the corner of her vision. She glanced at him just long enough to notice the almost mocking look he was giving her before nodding at Kurama and trying to keep focused on the situation at hand.

"You're right, of course," she said. "I didn't want anyone else to join our fight for exactly that reason: and that extends to all of you, too."

She made a point of looking at Kuwabara and Yusuke, who looked perplexed and confident respectively.

"No offense lady, but I can feel something pretty heavy coming from that valley down there that Kurama said is the hinterlands," Kuwabara said. "And if that's your enemy, you need all the help you can get."

"Yeah, that's right," Yusuke agreed. "And I don't care if those assholes make wanted posters with my face on 'em. And even if they do, I bet they offer a higher reward for me than they do for Kuwabara."

"Are you saying you think you're more of a threat to the bad guys than I am, Urameshi?" Kuwabara argued.

"I'm the descendent of a former king of demon world," Yusuke replied. "And I'm a demon. Of course I'm worth more than you."

"Nu-uh!" Kuwabara protested. "I'm human! Demons always pay more for humans! And I can break barriers and I'm smarter than you!"

"Are you idiots seriously fighting over which one of you most wants to have every bounty hunter and demon lord seeking to remove your head?" Hiei interrupted.

"Yeah, and since you're in the border patrol and a former bandit, you should weigh in on this, Hiei," Yusuke replied. "I'd be worth more than Kuwabara, right?"

"Wait, what are we arguing over?" Kuwabara muttered.

"Nothing," Kurama answered him. "Let's at least try to be sensible about this: you three take over watch duties so that those inside can rest and heal themselves as need be."

Yusuke and Kuwabara nodded and, although he did not respond, Hiei appeared to comply with Kurama's suggestion. Kurama then turned his attention back to Yasashi.

"You and I will discuss this," he said.

"O-okay," Yasashi said.

"Now," Kurama added. "Over here."

He turned and started to walk away, and after one last nervous glance at Hiei, Yasashi hurried after him. He was walking quite briskly and she assumed that he was going to move far away from the others; and so when he suddenly leapt up onto the roof of the bunker she stumbled a few steps beyond where he had left the ground before realising where he had gone. Once she had righted herself she leapt up after him, surprised to see him sit down on the flat roof at the back of the building, his legs dangling down over the edge. She quietly sat down next to him, finding herself facing the valley where Jagasame had appeared with his soldiers earlier that night.

"It's difficult for me to make the others understand the gravity of the situation here," Kurama began.

Yasashi nodded, though as both of them kept their eyes forward, it was perhaps a wasted gesture.

"The girls don't appreciate how powerful the enemy is, and they are no doubt now blinded by overconfidence following their fortunate defeat of Iruka," Kurama continued. "Yusuke doesn't understand the politics of getting involved – nor does he care – Kuwabara is here because he doesn't want to be left out and Hiei… Well, I can only guess as to why Hiei is here…"

"You're right," Yasashi agreed. "Though I can't help but notice that you didn't justify your own presence here…"

"I am here fully knowledgeable of the consequences of my being here," Kurama calmly replied. "I am the only external ally you can conscionably accept and trust as I am your only external ally who simultaneously understands the dangers of assisting you and the nature of the enemy you face, whilst also fully agreeing with your cause."

Yasashi turned to look at Kurama, finding herself unable to blink as she did so. He was still looking straight ahead, but even in profile, his determination was obvious.

"You do understand that nobody here in demon world will condone what you do," she said quietly as she watched him. "Nobody. Not even Yomi."

"I know that," he replied. "And so does Hiei: which again makes me wonder why he is here. I don't imagine that Mukuro has much patience for a squabble happening in the backwater of her territory."

"She never did care for our cause," Yasashi agreed. "But she never cared for the loyalists' argument either. But Tora did say that the border patrol guards aren't on our side, and, after an encounter with one of their group earlier today, I have to agree."

"So that was your handiwork I passed on my way here?"

"Border patrol guards sleeping in tree sap?"

"In the vicinity of a detonated border patrol vehicle, yes."

Yasashi smiled.

"When did you encounter Hiei?"

Yasashi's smile dropped and she found it even harder to maintain her composure when Kurama then turned to look directly at her.

"Um…" she began, her voice slightly squeaky in tone. "Just, you know, at the time of… Um…"

"Was he a part of the patrol you disabled?" Kurama asked.

"No," Yasashi replied, her voice lowering again as an idea occurred to her. "He joined us when we were confronted by Jagasame."

"You were confronted by Jagasame himself?" Kurama echoed.

"Yes. And I think that Hiei was drawn to us then because he sensed that Yukina was in danger… You know how protective he is of his sister, right?"

Kurama started to asked how, when and where Jagasame had found them but his voice trailed off and his tapered pewter eyebrows drew together into a frown.

"How did you know that Hiei and Yukina are siblings?" he asked.

"Well because…"

Yasashi paused, a list of possible excuses running through her mind before she finally settled on the most logical and believable one.

"I saw it in Hiei's file in spirit world," she said.

"I see," Kurama said, slowly nodding his head. "I had no idea Koenma had added that detail to the file he keeps on Hiei."

"Yes, he did," Yasashi said. "But – you know – you shouldn't always just believe what's in those files Koenma keeps – he has so much paperwork – George is so clumsy – sometimes things go missing, or information gets muddled – I bet a lot of the information in the spirit world files is inaccurate or just outright incorrect – is Yukina Hiei's sister? Here I am assuming that he is, but I learned that information from a spirit world file – which we all know are inaccurate – I just said they were – because they are – inaccurate, that is. Sometimes they're inaccurate."

"I see," Kurama said. "Perhaps the files are not as inaccurate as you may think."

"Oh no, they're very inaccurate!" Yasashi hurriedly said. "Wildly inaccurate, in fact!"

"I disagree," Kurama replied. "In my experience, the files are worryingly accurate, down to the last word: the discrepancies between the contents of the files and the facts occur because the authorities in spirit world – and by that, I primarily mean Koenma – often try to conceal the true contents of the files or the reality. Koenma is nothing if not a bureaucrat. I don't doubt the accuracy of any file he has created on Hiei or Yukina. I should like to see the file he keeps on me: he probably knows more about my life than I do…"

Kurama smiled but Yasashi was starting to sweat and could not return his gesture.

"You give Koenma too much credit, Kurama," she said.

"Have you ever read the file he keeps on me?" Kurama asked her.

"No!" she hurriedly replied, frantically shaking her head.

"That's unfortunate," he said. "What about your own file?"

"It's dead."

"…What?"

"I mean it's gone."

"Gone?"

"Yes. It, uh, I mean, well, it's not there. I tried to find it just before I was returned to my demon form and the locker the file is usually contained in was empty. I guess it just flew away, in a breeze. Just like that…"

Yasashi chewed at her lip as she watched Kurama, silently hoping that he would not sense her awkwardness; she had at least told him the truth, the file had, after all, disappeared.

"You don't find that suspicious?" he asked instead.

"Flying files is a common problem in spirit world," she replied, before grinning nervously.

"This is serious Yasashi," Kurama pressed. "Doesn't it concern you that Koenma's file on you has gone missing?"

"Did I say it had gone missing?"

"Yes."

"Did I?"

"Yes."

"Ah, well, I meant to say it has moved."

"…Moved?"

"Into the archives. It was thirty years old, there was nothing new to add in there, it was probably archived."

"…I see…"

"But even if it hadn't been archived, reading it would be a totally pointless and boring thing to do."

"I disagree. You retrieved a lot of valuable information about demon world for Koenma: I imagine your file is the basis for a lot of the current records spirit world has been able to create on demon world. That sort of information – and the fact that you supplied it – would be considered very meaningful and interesting, to parties from spirit world and demon world alike."

"No, it's really boring…"

Kurama's frown deepened and Yasashi realised that she was not going to manage to convince him to forget about the Raspberry Sundae file; which, she also then realised, she had no idea of the true location of. The fact that it had not been in the file room, combined with Koneko's evasiveness when she had tried to take it by force, left Yasashi wondering where the file actually was, and, perhaps more importantly, how had Yukina managed to find and read it?

"I wouldn't want anyone I care about to read my file," she said slowly. "I feel it wouldn't give a fair reflection of who and what I am. And… And lately – very, very lately, in fact – I've been thinking that some people who read it might not understand it. Some people might take it out of context. Some people might read pages and pages of my acts as an informant for spirit world and they might conclude that that's all I am: a mole who would sell any secret to save her own life. But… That's not really fair."

Kurama nodded, his face softening in an almost sympathetic way that was incredibly welcoming to Yasashi at that moment.

"I imagine my file, if read as a standalone piece, would appear far worse than yours," he said gently. "Centuries of murder, theft and betrayal in pursuit of power, a decade of falsehood hidden in the body of a human, appended by a few moments of vain attempts to redeem my sense of honour and integrity. Surely nothing in your file could be any worse than anything in mine, Yasashi."

Yasashi was unable to answer. Kurama's words were so genuine and heartfelt, so profound and meaningful, there was no possible way she could argue with him other than to tell him the truth: that – according to Hiei at least – her own file contained a record of words she had never intended to be recorded, words that had subsequently caused Kurama's own life to shift onto the path he was now on. She opened her mouth to try to tell him that he had no reason to fear the contents of his own file – for although she had never seen it herself, she was already confident that it would tell a far more noble story than her own did – but she could not find the words, and instead found herself placing her hand on top of his, which had been resting on the space of roof between them. He smiled gently and placed his other hand over hers.

"We don't have long together this time," he said. "Not that we ever did in the past – but let me do this one thing for you now, and I promise, one day we will be reunited, and we will rewrite our own destinies, making them something we don't have to fear anyone else reading about."

Yasashi reached her other hand over and placed it on Kurama's hand.

"Wow," she said. "Yoko Kurama really is Superman."


	20. Mutual Agreement

**A/N:** In the off-chance that it doesn't translate – because I'm not sure if it does or not – "moggy" is a slang word for cat, much like "pussy" or "kitty" (this may just be a UK word though).

* * *

 **Chapter 20 – Mutual Agreement**

"You do know being here and getting involved in this mess will reflect badly on you, don't you?"

"I don't care. I fight for honour and justice. I fight to protect the weak and downtrodden, and I, Kazuma Kuwabara, will not rest until these ladies have a nice place to live in peace."

"I wasn't talking to you, fool."

Kuwabara rounded on Hiei, glaring at him moodily.

"Getting involved in this debacle may actually boost your pitiful reputation here in demon world," Hiei added. "After all, the existing bounty on your head is the most laughable one I've ever heard of."

"There's a bounty on my head already?" Kuwabara echoed. "But I just got here!"

"Get involved with the rebel cat demons and the bounty offered might actually involve real money," Hiei casually replied.

"I don't care about stuff like this," Yusuke said, ignoring the grunts of complaint and confusion Kuwabara had started to make. "I've never given a damn about complicated rules. I'm just here to support Kurama and Keiko."

"Hn, that's ridiculous," Hiei scoffed. "Kurama is here for all the wrong reasons. If you wanted to support him, you would spend your efforts making him realise what a stupid mistake he was making."

"I thought Kurama just came here because he's got a crush on the pink-haired cat lady?" Kuwabara commented.

"Yeah, exactly," Yusuke added. "Kurama's here to help out his old girlfriend and we're here to help out Kurama."

"Ridiculous," Hiei said again.

"Oh yeah?" Yusuke echoed. "If it's so ridiculous Hiei, why are you here? Admit it: you're here to support Kurama too!"

"Yes I am here for Kurama's sake," Hiei said. "But not because I intend to aid these miserable moggies, rather because I intend to bring Kurama back to his senses. And sense is something that's been sorely lacking in general since those bitches showed up."

"Lighten up, Hiei," Yusuke said. "Live a little! I know it's gotta be hard for you now that your best friend is going steady with a girl, but you've just gotta trust that he won't forget about you and he'll still be around to do guy things with you from time to time. Just be happy for Kurama!"

"What… The hell are you talking about?" Hiei growled.

"And, once you get past the fact that her friends kidnapped us and tied us up with weird plants, it's actually really funny. I mean, this is Kurama we're talking about here. You know, cool, calm, always-in-control Kurama? And he's making a complete ass out of himself trying to impress a girl! Do you know what this means?"

"You're rivalling Kuwabara in the stupidity stakes?"

"It means Kurama is just like the rest of us! He's just as pathetic as Kuwabara when he puts on his special bandanas and fawns over Yukina and he's just as hopeless as I am when I try to convince Keiko that the next time I come back to the living world, I will actually make good on my promises and marry her!"

Hiei growled and bared his teeth, but neither Yusuke nor Kuwabara appeared to care how ridiculous he thought they were behaving.

"I'm sticking this one out, Hiei," Yusuke added. "Mostly just so as I can see how much more flustered that girl can actually make Kurama."

* * *

Yasashi moved her eyes to something behind Kurama's head. At first he frowned, wondering what had captured her attention: but as her face began to illuminate he realised that she was watching the moon emerge from behind a cloud. Her mouth opened slightly and her eyes distinctly widened, giving her the appearance of being hypnotised by the sight. She looked so captivated, Kurama eventually found himself looking back over his shoulder to see if there was something unusual about the moon that night. However, a cursory glance told him that it was just the same old yellow-green moon that appeared in the skies of demon world every night. As he looked at Yasashi again her eyes flicked back and forth between his face and the moon before a slightly bashful smile appeared on her face and she settled on looking him in the eye.

"Sometimes it's the little things that you miss the most," she said.

"I think the moon in the living world is a far more wonderful sight," Kurama replied. "Have you ever seen it?"

Yasashi nodded, which Kurama thought was odd as he was unaware of her having ever spent any more than the last three days in the living world; but as she still looked a little distracted, he assumed that she had not really heard his question and therefore was not answering honestly. He looked over his shoulder again, noticing then that the moon was less than full, in its waning phase and appearing in the shape of a mango.

"It always looks better at its fullest," he commented. "Though it should reach that point again in another three weeks or so. It will be quite a pleasant sight then. A full moon was always a good time for midnight raids in my days as a bandit."

Kurama turned back to Yasashi with a smile, but his expression quickly changed when he saw her staring at the moon, her eyes suddenly filled with an inexplicable sadness.

"Is everything alright?" he asked.

"Tora and I did all of our best work when the moon was like it is now," she said faintly, her eyes still on the moon. "When the moon was full, there were too many others out at night and when there was a new moon it was too dark, but when the moon was like this, three-quarters full, it was still quite light, but without all the chaos brought on by a full moon… Tora loved the moon when it was like this…"

"Is she sleeping?" Kurama asked. "If she misses seeing the moon tonight, I'm sure she'll see it tomorrow: when we celebrate reclaiming the hinterlands in the name of the rebels."

Yasashi slowly moved her eyes to Kurama's, her pupils contracting in a most disturbing way. When she did not explain herself he focused his attention on the faint energy signals inside the bunker; when he noticed Tora's signal was missing, he thought that perhaps she was concealing or distorting her energy signal. But, as though she had read his thoughts, Yasashi slowly gave a small shake of her head.

"Iruka?" Kurama asked.

"No," Yasashi quietly replied. "Jagasame."

Kurama was surprised to hear her speak the cat demon tribe leader's name: it was always a rare thing for Jagasame to show his face and the fact that he had killed Tora himself showed that he was taking the rebel's stand very seriously, despite his having an obvious advantage over them, both in terms of power and number of allies at his disposal.

"I was arguing with her before it happened," Yasashi added. "I was yelling at her for being reckless. I didn't even… She was my best friend and I got back into this body just to have a few short days with her and now I have this one night with you and…"

She lowered her head but Kurama felt her tighten her grip on his hands.

"I can stay with you a little longer," he offered.

She shook her head, but did not look up.

"You have to go back," she said.

"Yes, I do have to go back to the living world," he agreed. "And once I do so, it will probably be impossible for us to meet again until my time comes to return to demon world. But I meant what I said: when I return here, I will find you and we will be together."

Yasashi slowly lifted her head, a forced smile gracing her lips.

"Now that Tora has gone, I have no other choice," she said sadly. "I… Before, when I saw how well Tora was leading the others, I thought that maybe after we had found a peaceful home here in demon world, I thought that maybe… Maybe I could return to spirit world. I thought I could return to my life there for as long as you were in the living world, and that way I could be with you and I could still check on the rebels in demon world."

Kurama was unable to stop his eyebrows from lifting in surprise at her words.

"I had no idea you had such a plan," he confessed.

Yasashi shook her head.

"It doesn't matter now anyway," she said. "I have to stay here. With Tora gone, I can't expect Chita to take over as leader – she's too young and inexperienced."

Kurama nodded.

"We both have obligations in different worlds," he said. "But one day we will have time together. And right now, we have tonight."

Yasashi looked as though she might say something, but her eyes wandered to the moon again and she started to look lost again.

"Tonight it's just you and me," Kurama said.

She slowly moved her eyes back to his.

"Sometimes we met on nights just like this one," she said. "Sometimes you came out when the moon was just like this."

"That's true," he agreed. "Sometimes on a night just like this, we would meet – by chance, of course – and we would "dance"."

Yasashi smiled, looking genuinely less saddened.

"I don't know about you," she said. "But for my part, our meetings were never something that happened by chance. I deliberately went to places I knew I would find you."

Kurama frowned.

"You did?" he asked. "I didn't know that. It always felt as though I had to find you."

"Yes, well, I never openly presented myself to you," she replied. "But I always made it obvious to you where you could find me."

Kurama smiled.

"Will you do something for me, Kurama?" she asked.

"Anything," he replied.

"Just tonight, this one last time, will you dance with me?"

Kurama rose to his feet, moving away from the edge of the roof. Yasashi copied his actions and he reached a hand into his hair, drawing out his trademark rose.

"I should warn you before we do this that I'm not the same man you once knew," he said. "When we met in the past, we were in the same class – albeit perhaps at different levels within that class – whereas now I am an S-class demon and my strength does greatly outmatch yours."

Kurama paused, one hand holding his rose in front of himself, the other poised at his side, his eyes on Yasashi. She was standing in a very unusual position and had not drawn a weapon and he was unsure if she was trying to deceive him or if she was trying to challenge him to hand-to-hand combat; the latter seemed doubly absurd after what he had just told her about his own physical strength.

"Should we move this somewhere else?" he suggested. "In case we wake those sleeping beneath our feet."

He glanced down at the metal roof he was standing on before looking up at Yasashi again, finding her still standing a short distance in front of him, one hand hovering in the air at the side of her face and the level with her waist and reached out slightly at her side, both of her palms facing him. Kurama slowly lowered his hands to his sides, the shimmering rose in his right hand hanging loosely in his fingers. Yasashi then moved closer to him and, as he customarily did in any physical challenge, be it friendly or not, he waited for her to make the first move.

When she placed her left hand on his shoulder and touched her right hand to his left hand, he felt no surer of what she was about to do.

"I just want one last dance," she said as she stepped closer to him again.

"Oh…" Kurama said, his rose slipping from between his fingers and landing softly on the bunker roof at his feet. "You meant a literal dance this time…"

He shuffled closer to Yasashi and enclosed his hand around hers, moving his other hand to her waist. She leaned closer to him and began to softly sway to the rhythm of a tune that only she seemed to hear, and so he let her lead his movements as best he could. They slowly moved around in a circle, Kurama's eyes passing over the valley entrance to the hinterlands and then round to the gibbous moon, still low in the sky. As he turned further, Kurama lowered his eyes slightly, finding Yusuke and Kuwabara on the ground a short way away from the bunker, apparently arguing about something, and Hiei standing, one hand in his pocket, the other resting on the hilt of his sword, his eyes watching Kurama and Yasashi unblinkingly.

Kurama thought that there was something amiss with the way Hiei was regarding him: but he had felt that there had been something amiss with Hiei ever since their showdown with Iruka and his bandits on Ping Island.

He wondered what was bothering his friend.

* * *

Yasashi could not help but notice the way Hiei was watching her every move. A small part of her optimistically hoped that he would not enact his earlier threat: he had often threatened to do cruel things in the past but then changed his mind or else done something more constructive when the opportunity arose for him to fulfil his promises. But the way he was still glaring at her suggested that he was still as determined to carry out his threat as he had been when he had issued it earlier that night, and, when coupled with his loyalty to and friendship with Kurama, his apparent determination only seemed all the more resolute.

She reasoned that she perhaps ought to tell Kurama the truth herself – the whole truth, the truth about who she had been in spirit world for the last thirty years and what she had said to Koenma in her dying moments – but in that moment, under the light of the demon world moon that reflected so mesmerizingly off of Kurama's silvery hair, it felt like the wrong time to discuss such things. That night, after a day spent returning to demon world, returning to the hinterlands, losing Oyama and losing Tora, it was neither right nor appropriate to discuss such things. Yasashi lacked the clarity of mind or the strength of heart to confess the truth; but, as the moon continued rising in the sky and Hiei's eyes only appeared harsher, it was blatantly apparent that time was running out for her to say much of anything to Kurama. Before long the night would be over, and dawn would bring a host of new problems, and the temporary reprieve she and the rebels were enjoying would be cut short as they were forced to move on.

But it was not the right time.

It never had been before, it was not the right time that night and it probably never would be again. Yasashi was caught with the difficult choice of either telling Kurama the truth herself or having Hiei retell his twisted version of it to Kurama, and she only had a few hours to decide which would be the case.

As she once more caught sight of Hiei watching her, Yasashi wondered again where the Raspberry Sundae file was. She found it hard to believe that Koenma had actually added her last words to the file: though he must have done in order for Hiei to have such a detailed knowledge of what she had said that day. She contemplated the coincidences of her becoming assistant to the spirit detective in spirit world at the same time that the spirit detective was sent on a mission to recover a treasure stolen by Kurama. It was almost sickeningly ironic. In her dying moments she had cursed her lack of time with Kurama, and that night, as she held him on the roof of the bunker, she was cursing her lack of time with him again: but she had been granted ten years of time with him, with she as Botan as he as Shuichi, and neither of them had appreciated it.

"Do you have a plan for tomorrow?" Kurama asked.

His voice was quiet and his tone soft, his words so light their meaning seemed far less significant than they truly were.

"I'm still figuring it out in my head," she honestly replied.

"I don't think we can vanquish all of the loyalists in one run," he said, blissfully oblivious to the double-meaning of her reply. "And I know some of those still living in the hinterlands are innocents. I predict some of your enemies will flee, and there is a risk they will form a group much like the one you did, and you will later by plagued by their attempts at revenge or their claims of land."

"I hadn't thought about that," Yasashi admitted.

"I thought perhaps we should set up a deal with the border patrol."

"The border patrol?"

"Yes. Hiei is in charge of the border patrol, I'm sure we could ask for his assistance in the matter."

"…I'm glad you're sure, because I'm not…"

"If he has appeared unpleasant at all, don't worry about Hiei. He may be brusque – even by demon world standards – but he does know right from wrong and he does always do right in the end."

"Yes… That's what I'm most afraid of…"

"I was thinking we could ask the patrol to extend their route – perhaps even to extend the road – down into the valley. The presence of a patrol might help deter any defectors who try to cause you trouble after you have reclaimed your homeland."

Yasashi smiled. It was typical that Kurama would have thought so far ahead and strategized how best to deal with any possible outcome.

"Not all of those in the hinterlands are legitimate enemies," she said. "Some of them are just weak and scared."

"They have to make a stand when the time comes," Kurama replied.

Yasashi stopped swaying and Kurama stopped when he noticed that she had. She leaned back to look him in the eye.

"Some of those in the hinterlands don't know any better," she pointed out. "They're so much weaker than those in charge and they have been raised to believe that the rebels are weak. They might be too scared to side with us."

"That's one of the unfortunate consequences of warfare, Yasashi," he replied.

Sacrificing the weak and naïve was just another thing nobody had warned her about, Yasashi thought bitterly. She slid her hands from Kurama and turned her back on him, looking up at the moon forlornly. She simultaneously resented the fact that she had lost thirty years in spirit world and envied the life she had enjoyed there. She wanted to overthrow Jagasame and disband his army, but she had no quarrel with the remainder of the cat demon tribe and no desire to fight any of them.

Maybe Hiei was right: maybe she was a miserable excuse for a demon.

Maybe only Jagasame and his soldiers would fight. Maybe it would be much easier with stronger fighters assisting the rebels. Maybe it did not have to end in yet more bloodshed and loss.

"Hey, heads up, we've got company."

Yasashi turned abruptly as Yusuke leapt up onto the roof beside her. When he caught her eye he pointed back towards the road and as she followed the direction of his finger she saw the headlights of a patrol vehicle seemingly heading straight towards them.

"But that doesn't make any sense…" she said quietly.

"Hiei said the border patrol guards have been ordered to find out who attacked one of their tanks earlier today," Yusuke explained. "They're looking for you, Keiko, Kuwabara's sister, Yukina and Puu."

"It looks like they've left the road," Yasashi said, squinting at the approaching headlights.

"Yeah, they're not messing around," Yusuke replied.

"They're not the only ones."

Yasashi turned at the sound of Kurama's voice, looking first at the fox demon and then in the direction he was looking. In the darkness of the night it was more difficult to see the valley entrance to the hinterlands, but the combination of the moon shining down onto the valley and the glow of energy radiating off of those lining up over the edge of the hill, the view was clear enough: Jagasame had reappeared, once more surrounding himself, but this time not only by his strongest fighters but also by the weaker members of his tribe – the workers, women and children – that Yasashi had feared confronting in combat.

"Well this is about to get interesting…" Yusuke muttered.

"We can't retreat in either direction," Kurama said. "We'll become trapped if we do. We need to dissuade the border patrol unit from getting involved in this."

"Yeah, this could turn into a real catastrophe…"

Yusuke glanced at Yasashi and Kurama and when both glared back at him he quickly changed the subject from his poorly-timed pun.

"Hey Hiei!" he called out. "Help us out here!"

Kuwabara and Hiei jumped up onto the bunker roof, the former looking concerned and the latter still – Yasashi noted – watching her with the same look he had been the entire night.

"Hiei, you've gotta convince your men to back off," Yusuke said to Hiei.

"They're under orders to stop this madness," Hiei replied.

"Yeah well tell them we're taking care of it, they just gotta give us a little more time, okay?" Yusuke said.

Hiei gave Yasashi one last strange look before hopping off the roof again.

"We'll go inside and warn the others what's happening," Yusuke said to Kurama and Yasashi. "And make sure none of them run out and accidentally surrender themselves to either side of this."

Kurama nodded and Yusuke waved to Kuwabara to follow him, the two of them quickly dropping off the roof and moving inside the bunker. Kurama and Yasashi stayed at the far end of the roof, nearest the hinterlands, watching as more and more bodies lined the hillside: Yasashi was starting to appreciate the earlier remark Iruka had made about the tribe having increased their number in the last thirty years as there seemed to be even more than she would have expected there to be before Hiei's dragon had taken out a chunk of their number. As the sheer number of loyalists threatened to overwhelm her common sense, Yasashi found her sense of hearing oddly heightened – just like it had been the day she had died – and she heard every word Hiei said to the patrol guard behind her only too clearly.

"I have this under control."

"We've been given orders to come here."

"I just told you: I have this under control."

"We have orders to arrest Yusuke Urameshi, Yoko Kurama and Yukina for interfering with the border patrol and for inciting war among the cat demon tribe. We have instructions to quarantine a giant blue pigeon named "Puu" and we have been ordered to recover three humans – Kazuma Kuwabara, Shizuru Kuwabara and Keiko Yukimura – and after putting them through the standard process of mind cleansing, to return them to their own world."

"None of that is necessary. I have this under control. It will all be over by dawn."

"I also have an order to arrest you if you interfere or resist our attempts to carry out our other orders, Hiei."

Yasashi chewed at her lip. Time was running out, and the ending she had least hoped for was starting to look like the inevitable conclusion to that night.

She looked up at the moon, finding it fitting that both she and Tora would meet their demise on the sort of night they had once both loved so dearly.

She looked up at Kurama, who met her eyes, a look of determination and scheming still obvious in his features, and she took comfort from the knowledge that he still thought there was another way, even though it was becoming so apparent that there was not. Unable to think of anything appropriate to say to him, she instead forced a weak smile and then walked across the length of the bunker roof, stopping by the edge overlooking where Hiei was standing addressing the border patrol unit.

"Hey bounty hunter," she called down.

Hiei turned his head to look up over his shoulder at her.

"Catch me if you can."

She threw a handful of petals towards him and then leapt from the roof, racing around the building and down the sloped landscape towards the hinterlands: in order for her plan to work, it was imperative that Jagasame witnessed first-hand what would happen next. Behind her, as she had expected, the border patrol guards had fallen victim to the petals of her raspberry sundae, all collapsing in a deep sleep. Hiei – again, as she had expected – had leapt out of range before she had even finished throwing the petals, and he was starting to pursue her down the hillside. She knew he could have caught up to her much sooner, and she wondered if maybe he understood her desire to be caught further down the hillside, if maybe he was granting her one last favour before finally putting an end to the war between the loyalists and the rebels.

As Yasashi passed over the churned earth where she had been attacked by roots earlier, reaching the undisturbed ground beyond it, she felt the blow she had been expecting for some time. It took her off her feet, sending her flying forwards through the air. When she did land, she rolled over a few times with the momentum before coming to a stop in a crumpled heap on the ground, the back of her head throbbing where she had been struck by what she assumed was a punch. By the time she had righted herself and risen to her knees, Hiei was standing over her, his cloak absent and his sword in his hand.

"Before you do it, I have one last request," she said.

"Hn, you think you're in any position to bargain with me, Botan?" Hiei responded. "You do know I could collect a bigger bounty if I handed you back to them alive…"

Yasashi nodded.

"Yes, I know that," she said. "But I think you want a resolution to this as badly as I do, and there's only one way to fix this."

"Get to the point, the sound of your voice is starting to irritate me," Hiei warned.

"Please don't ever tell anyone about what you saw in my file."

"Too easy."

Yasashi wanted to ask Hiei if his words meant that he intended to do as she had asked; but before she could even draw breath to question him he had torn his sword across her chest and she was falling forwards into a rapidly expanding blood stain on the ground. She felt the impact of her fall, but little else thereafter. All physical sensations faded rapidly, including her vision, until soon the only indication she had left that she was not quite dead yet was – just as it had been before – her still present sense of hearing.

"She's dead," Hiei said.

"I would have preferred her alive," Jagasame replied.

"Your poster claims you will pay three quarters of the bounty for her death," Hiei argued back. "Now stop stalling and hand over the money."

The last sound Yasashi heard was a sizeable sack of hirui stones being thrown by Jagasame and caught by Hiei.

* * *

Yukina had left the bunker, still a little dazed from having awoken abruptly after only a short sleep and being quite exhausted from her earlier escapades, and found Yusuke shouting creative insults at an unconscious border patrol unit who had parked their vehicle awkwardly outside the front of the bunker, Kuwabara standing at the back of the bunker watching something that appeared to have shocked him and Kurama running down the hill away from the bunker and towards the hinterlands. When it had become apparent that Yusuke was too preoccupied to explain anything, Yukina moved over to join Kuwabara at the top of the hill overlooking the valley, where she had promptly found herself adopting the same look and stance as Kuwabara.

Yukina paused at Kuwabara's side only momentarily, her confusion at the scene ahead of her clearing in a moment of sickening realisation as Hiei accepted the bounty from Jagasame for slaying Yasashi.

When she started to move again, her thoughts did not linger on why Hiei had done what he had: she thought perhaps he had been ordered to do it as part of his duties with the border patrol, and he probably had no idea that she was Botan. As she ran down the hillside, Yukina's thoughts quickly moved to something else entirely, and she found herself truly understanding why Yasashi had been so reckless after witnessing Tora's death, as the need for vengeance was rapidly taking over every part of her being.

Kurama reached the scene first – unsurprisingly, as he had already been halfway there when Yukina had started running – and his first reaction was to reach for Yasashi. Hiei stopped him from reaching his goal and the two began a verbal altercation; but Yukina's focus was still on Jagasame, and her motivations only became stronger when she was joined by Shizuru and Keiko.

"Do we have a plan?" Keiko asked as they neared their destination.

"Even the score," Shizuru replied.

When Yukina saw Keiko nodding her agreement she pushed herself harder, running faster and ultimately launching herself at her target. Before she even got close to him, Jagasame knocked her back with the shock wave of a punch he aimed at her, but before she had even landed, Keiko and Shizuru had leapt at him too. Yukina started to push herself up, but her arms could not support her weight, and she only managed to shakily lift herself a short distance before collapsing to the ground again. She saw that Keiko and Shizuru had become similarly incapacitated and on the edge of her vision she could see that Jagasame was still standing, seemingly unfazed by their attempts. She started to think that she had done something wrong, that she was too exhausted or too weak: but when she saw each of the rebels all attempting to attack and all being thrown back with the same apparent lack of effort, she realised that what Yasashi and Tora had always said was true: Jagasame was too strong to fight head-on.

This, Yukina thought to herself, was why the rebels always ran. In a battle with a single loyalist – like the battle Yukina had been involved with against Iruka – they stood a chance of victory: but against all the loyalists or even just against Jagasame, it was a hopeless endeavour.

Despite feeling weak and being unable to rise – like all the others around her who had made an attempt to attack Jagasame directly – Yukina could still clearly see Hiei and Kurama standing close by, and she could still clearly see them arguing. Her thoughts then wandered back to Hiei, the combined realisation that he had killed Yasashi, collected the bounty on her head and was apparently stopping Kurama from attacking Jagasame starting to make her feel even more physically overcome than the after-effects of being floored by Jagasame's defence.

She wondered why Hiei would stop Kurama from fighting, why he cared. He had done his duty – or at least, what she assumed was his duty – and killed the rebel leader, likely ending the feud between the two factions of the cat demon tribe and he had even been paid for his efforts. And yet still he was intervening and acting in favour of the loyalists. Yukina wanted to ask Shizuru what it all meant – because Shizuru seemed to be able to find answers when they were needed, just like she truly was the "New Kurama" – but she was too weak to move and too weak to speak.

"Whoa, he's like an uglier, older, fatter version of Byakko…" Kuwabara said as he joined Kurama and Hiei, his face twisted and his eyes on Jagasame.

"Hey asshole, someone just told me you killed Tora," Yusuke said as he too joined them. "Is that true?"

Jagasame turned his attention to Yusuke, looking down at him with what even Yukina could see was condescension.

"Wrong answer," Yusuke said, pointing the index finger of his right hand at Jagasame.

"Stop!" Hiei yelled, grabbing at Yusuke's arm.

"I've had it with these assholes!" Yusuke argued back. "They've been bullying a group of girls and keeping everyone else like slaves and this bastard is the reason for it all. If we don't stop him now, he'll keep doing it!"

"No!" Hiei insisted.

"What the hell is your problem, Hiei?" Kuwabara said.

"Your efforts could be put to better use elsewhere," Hiei answered him.

There was a brief pause before Kuwabara let out a cry of alarm and Yukina heard him running towards her. He lifted her from the ground, holding her in his arms and, even though her vision was a little blurry, she could see the genuine concern in his face as he looked down at her.

"Yukina my love, are you alright?" he asked.

She managed to mumble out a garbled three syllable reply that he seemed to understand as the relief in his eyes was obvious. He started to carry her away from the others and she wanted to argue, wanted to ask where he was taking her, why he was walking away, why he had left his own sister lying on the ground and what was going to happen to Yasashi: but she was starting to lose consciousness, and one last glance over Kuwabara's arm showed her a scene of chaos as those that were able to began helping those who had fallen. She saw Yusuke helping up Keiko, the rebels helping each other, Kurama tending to Shizuru and Jagasame walking away from it all, returning to the hinterlands unharmed and unaffected.

Yukina thought it was slightly odd that she could no longer see Yasashi; but as she recalled how Tora and the other rebels had always spoken about plundering the dead for their weaponry, and knowing that Jagasame had always coveted Yasashi's raspberry sundae, she was left with the horrible idea that the loyalist leader had taken Yasashi's body with him.

* * *

Shizuru looked up at Kurama, readying herself to tell him that she was prepared to take her chances trying to stand without his assistance as he was being a little rough as he hauled her to her feet; but when she saw the look on his face she decided against it. She let him pull her to her feet, at which point he made eye contact with her and appeared to at least partially realise his error as his fingers loosened their grip of her slightly.

"Are you badly hurt anywhere?" he asked her.

"Just my pride," she replied with a half-smile.

"Don't feel bad. In my human form, he would have outmatched me in terms of pure physical strength."

Shizuru supposed that Kurama's last statement was meant to have been reassuring somehow, yet neither his tone nor the look on his face suggested that he felt any depth of empathy.

"I guess we got a little over-confident after we beat Iruka," she confessed.

When Kurama did not answer her, Shizuru looked up at him again expectantly and found him staring at something intently. She turned to see what had caught his attention and saw something that seemed illogical: even though Hiei had killed Yasashi and Jagasame had moved some distance away already, Chita was holding a collection of seeds in one hand and Yasashi's raspberry sundae in the other. As strange as it seemed that Jagasame would pay the bounty for Yasashi and not take her weapons, Shizuru allowed herself to smile at the small victory the rebels had achieved despite all their losses.

"Hey Spots?"

Chita turned her head to Yusuke, who had appeared at her side, still supporting Keiko with one arm.

"This place isn't so great you know," he continued once he had her attention. "There's a real nice piece of land by a river over in Tourin, not far from my place. If you and your gang wanna come and stay there, I'd be cool with that."

Chita nodded her head and Keiko put her arms around Yusuke, smiling up at him proudly. Shizuru turned her attention back to Kurama, but he was still staring at the flower in Chita's hand.


	21. Everlasting

**Chapter 21 – Everlasting**

When Yasashi realised that she could hear – and in fact that was aware of anything at all – she started to think that her soul must have arrived in spirit world. She could not remember the journey there, but the rumbling, roaring sound that was becoming clearer and clearer to her ears could only mean that she was at the bridge in spirit world, overlooking the abyss of oblivion. She wondered again if that was where Koenma would sentence her: she wondered if her good deeds on behalf of spirit world in her demon life and her good deeds as Botan the ferry girl would be considered or if she would just be condemned by the burden of her own guilt at failing to be the hero her rebel followers – and even she herself – had always expected her to be.

When she felt herself sliding and her hip colliding with a metal rod, the experience of being in spirit world suddenly seemed significantly less poetic.

Yasashi slowly opened her eyes, blinking through a haze and drawing in a deep breath. Quite apart from the fact that she was able to draw in a deep breath, she found it odd that the air around her smelled a lot like the air in demon world and not at all like the air in spirit world. As her eyes finally gained focus and she was able to see where she was, she found herself lying on a metal floor that was vibrating beneath her. The source of the rumbling, growling sounds were coming from below the floor. Straining to lift her head, Yasashi realised that she was lying mostly facedown, in the interior of what looked like some kind of armoured vehicle. There was a control console above her head, a chair behind her back – one leg of which was pressed against her hip – and there was another chair ahead of her: and a familiar face was sitting there, driving the vehicle with an air of dogged determination.

"Hey…" she said as she attempted to push herself up.

The driver glanced over at her with a twitching sneer of displeasure.

"Stay down. You don't have much energy left, don't waste it by getting up or trying to talk."

Yasashi frowned, obeying only the instruction about not talking as she rolled onto her left side, leaning her weight against the legs of the chair behind her and pressing her right hand to the bloody stain on her clothing over her chest. When she felt the tackiness of her own congealing blood against the skin on the palm of her hand she came to a surprising conclusion: she was alive.

"I don't understand…" she said.

"I thought I told you not to talk. You're wasting energy."

Yasashi narrowed her eyes in what she thought was a threatening way, though she knew that in her current state she was in no condition to be threatening to anyone.

"What's happening?" she asked.

After a sigh of annoyance she received a reply.

"You said you wanted an end to this and that was one of the few things you and I have ever agreed upon. I didn't want Yukina doing anything else reckless and getting herself killed, you wanted Jagasame to stop chasing the rebels and you wanted to be remembered as a hero. What better way to achieve all of that than for you to die for your cause: you know, like you were supposed to have done thirty years ago."

Feeling slightly irritated – another sure sign that she was alive – Yasashi made another attempt to pull herself up, and again earned herself a brief, angry and admonishing glower.

"Idiot, you never did listen to me."

"That's not true, Hiei."

"Hn, you need to lie still and relax. You're wasting what little energy you do have left."

"You collected the bounty for killing me."

"Because I did kill you."

"No you didn't… Did you underestimate the amount of force you would need to apply to deal me a mortal blow?"

Hiei growled and bared his teeth and Yasashi felt even more confused than ever: maybe she was dead and what was happening now was some strange hallucination invoked by the place her soul had been sent to.

"I know exactly how hard I need to hit you to kill you, idiot," Hiei said. "And because of that, I also know exactly how hard I need to hit you to make you appear dead to an unobservant old bastard like Jagasame."

"But you collected the bounty for killing me," Yasashi pointed out.

"I think I deserve to be rewarded for all the crap I've been through this past week thanks to you and your band of harpies," Hiei replied.

"…But–"

"Seriously, you should stop. You have precious little energy left and, if I read Yukina's memories of the Raspberry Sundae file correctly, you will need a certain amount of life energy left in you if the crystal of change is going to work correctly."

"The-the crystal of change…?"

Yasashi watched Hiei carefully, waiting for him to continue explaining himself; but he kept his eyes on the road ahead and said nothing, leaving her lying in a daze of semi-conscious confusion. The crystal of change was something Koenma had found in the spirit world vault during his desperation in her dying hours after Iruka and his men had assaulted her. She remembered – because her hearing had never failed her during that time – hearing him shouting desperately for information on the crystal. Ayame had told him his father advised him not to use it, Captain Ootake of the SDF had told Koenma he was being ridiculous and George had started talking about how the crystal had been in the deepest, darkest part of the vault for a reason: it had not been used for several millennia, and with good reason. And yet somehow, amidst all that chaos, Koenma had managed to get his hands on what he had described as a "dusty, tattered old book" that contained a chapter about the crystal of change.

Koenma had read aloud all the information he had on the crystal, and even passed a comment on one of the factors concerning its use, but only one part of what he had said that day had really stood out in Yasashi's mind: so much so in fact, that it had been the first thought on her mind when Captain Ootake had cut the crystal from her body and returned her to her demon form a few days earlier, and, as she lay on the brink of death in the border patrol vehicle Hiei had apparently commandeered to return her to spirit world, that one thing was coming to the front of her mind and taking over all else.

As long as the crystal was inside of her body, she would be unable to remember her life as a demon: all of her memories would be taken as part of the exchange process, and there was only two ways to get them back.

Yasashi groaned as she slid forwards, her body crumpling against the legs of the control console at the front of the cockpit, which, combined with the fading of the growling and rumbling sounds beneath her, she took to be a sign that Hiei had reached his destination and was stopping the vehicle.

"I don't want to forget," she managed to say as Hiei leapt out of the driver's seat. "Please…"

Hiei moved to stand over her, his hands on his hips and a displeased scowl distorting his face.

"Why did you have to get even taller in that form?" he grumbled.

She wondered what he meant, but she did not have to wonder for long as he crouched down and grabbed her ankles, dragging her out from under the console and then dropped her ankles to take hold of one of her arms in both hands. He pulled her up into a sitting position and then began manoeuvring her over his shoulders.

"Maybe you shouldn't have hit me so hard that I couldn't walk for myself," she muttered.

"Maybe I should have just killed you," he grumbled back.

"Why didn't you?"

Hiei grunted out something indecipherable, but before Yasashi could ask him to explain himself he had started to stand up and she was lifted from the floor in the most awkward position imaginable, the combined strain of being draped over Hiei's shoulders facedown and having one of his shoulders pressing painfully into the wound he had given her robbing her of the ability to speak. She barely managed to remain conscious as Hiei left the vehicle, the jolt of his jumping to the ground almost knocking her out again.

As he leapt through a portal and the scents of spirit world washed over her, Yasashi realised she was running out of time to say what she really needed to say.

* * *

"Darn it, it's so typical of Hiei!" Kuwabara complained.

"Mister Hiei saved our lives last night," Yukina pointed out.

"Yeah, well, he just ran off with the big truck we were gonna use to get everybody out of here!" Kuwabara complained.

"You can put me down now, Kazuma," Yukina said. "I'm still weak, but I can stand."

Kuwabara looked down at Yukina, still cradled in his arms, as though she had just said something completely absurd.

"Kazuma, I am a demon," she said quietly. "I maybe don't live in demon world any more, but this is where I was born, this is where I was brought up. I'm not like the human girls you're more accustomed to."

"I know that, baby!" Kuwabara replied, breaking into a grin. "I know you're from the ice village in demon world. And I know you're not like all the other girls in human world – heck, that's one of the reasons why I like you so much, my love."

"No, you're not listening to me," Yukina said, trying to make herself sound sterner. "Even at my weakest, I'm still stronger than any other girl from your world – well, except for Shizuru, of course."

"Ha ha, yeah, my sister's really tough, huh?"

"Yes, she is, Kazuma. And I'm a lot tougher than you think I am."

Kuwabara's grin lessened slightly and he slowly placed Yukina down on her feet.

"Thank you," she said, smiling sweetly up at him.

"I don't mind carrying you, you know," he said. "I heard you were fighting Iruka, and you went right after that Jagasame guy, and I've been sleeping and flying with Kurama all this time."

"Yes, I understand," Yukina patiently replied. "But I want to stand on my own now. You, and so many others, have always fought so hard to protect me, and today, when someone who has always helped me needed my help, I wasn't even strong enough to land a single blow against the enemy threatening her. I need to stand on my own now. I need to know that I can do that. Do you understand?"

Kuwabara frowned and looked vaguely confused, but he nodded regardless. He looked back over his shoulder and Yukina copied his action, seeing the others generally tending to the wounded. Keiko was sitting down with her back against a wall of the bunker and Yusuke was knelt in front of her apparently trying to cheer her up. Shizuru was sitting close by Keiko and Kurama was half-heartedly creating a support bandage for her left ankle, which she had apparently strained very badly after her failed attempt to attack Jagasame: but Kurama's attention kept wandering over to Chita, who was standing away from the others, staring at the pink and cream peony in her hands, her eyes wide and her expression strangely neutral despite the tears staining her cheeks.

"I'm really sorry for your losses," Yukina said to Chita.

Chita's mouth moved as though she intended to answer, but no sound came out and her eyes never left the raspberry sundae she had inherited. Yukina turned back to Kuwabara, who met her eyes.

"It's so awful for Chita," she explained to him. "First she found out her mother had been cruelly treated and killed by the loyalists, then she saw Tora die and then she saw Yasashi die, and now she has to take over leadership of the rebellion."

"Yeah, that's tough," Kuwabara agreed. "You girls have had a pretty hard time of it here, huh?"

Yukina nodded, tears welling in her eyes as she looked around the remainder of the rebels, realising then how few of them there were left to continue their struggle and how weak those that had survived truly were; when Tora and Yasashi had still been around, the rebels had seemed invincible, but when both former leaders had been downed so easily by their enemy, it made things look incredibly bleak for those left behind.

"Don't cry, my love," Kuwabara said, touching a hand to Yukina's shoulder.

She looked up at him and tried to smile.

"Yasashi was the first friend I made outside of the ice village," she said. "And I've lost her twice now. And I know that all she wanted was peace and freedom for the rebels, so it feels so much harder because Jagasame is still alive, he's still winning, he's still oppressing the cat demon tribe. The rebels lost their leader and their deputy leader and they have nothing to show for it. It's not fair! The suffering just keeps going on… It's everlasting, it's just not fair!"

"Urameshi said he knows a place the rebels can live in peace," Kuwabara said. "And I know he'll make sure they're safe there. And you could go visit them–"

Kuwabara stopped talking abruptly, his head turning suddenly. Yukina followed the direction he was looking, gasping at what she saw: a group of cat demons were approaching the back of the bunker.

"Hey, what the hell do you want?" Yusuke demanded, leaping to his feet. "I maybe didn't get the chance to kick your boss's ass, but there's nobody here to hold me back from kicking all of your asses!"

"Wait, please!" one of the cat demons said, stepping forwards from the group.

Yusuke reluctantly stopped, his fist still poised in the air, his angry eyes locked onto the young, lanky male cat demon as he moved away from his group, walking up one side of the bunker and starting towards Chita. Chita, who was still preoccupied by the contents of her hands, did not notice him until he was less than three feet away from her, at which point she yelped in alarm, fixing frightened eyes onto him.

"We're not strong, in terms of power or in number," he said to her. "But if you'd accept us, we'd like to join you."

Chita slowly lowered her arms to her sides, her head tilting over to one side. She eyed over the cat demon before her curiously before walking past him and leaning forwards to look around the bunker at the seventeen or so other cat demons who had accompanied him.

"Most of you are men," she concluded, turning back to the one who had approached her.

"We all hate Jagasame and his rules," he replied. "We've always wanted to escape, but we never had the courage or the chance to before. But, after we saw what Raspberry Sundae tried to do last night and this morning, we made up our minds and we fled. We want to come with you."

Chita looked about herself as though expecting something to appear.

"If it was a trap, Jagasame would have sent someone way more powerful than this miserable string-bean," Shizuru said to her. "I think he's genuine. And I think the lesson you need to learn from your leader is to say yes to genuine help when somebody offers it to you."

Chita nodded and made her way over the meet with the others who had left the hinterlands.

"Maybe things won't be so bad for the rebels now," Kuwabara said, turning to Yukina again.

"I hope so," she said. "All Yasashi ever wanted was for them to live in peace, without any wanted posters or bounties on their heads… It's just too bad she isn't here to see it happen."

* * *

"My work here is done."

Yasashi looked up at Hiei – who had unceremoniously dumped her on the floor of Koenma's office and sent George out to fetch the prince of spirit world – and she found him looking almost bored. He looked down at her from the corner of his eye and she forced herself to ask the one question she needed him to answer.

"Why did you help me like this?"

"Hn, idiot."

He lowered his chin and closed his eyes, an ironic, near sarcastic, smile gracing his lips.

"I didn't do this for you," he said.

"Then why?" she pressed. "You were threatening to betray me last night. Why did you change your mind?"

He opened his eyes and looked down at her again.

"Listen to me and listen carefully," he said. "Jagasame thinks you are dead and he knows Tora is dead. He's not really interested in any of the others who followed you. The two main prizes are gone, and so has his interest in the rebellion. The hunt will stop. The rumours will stop. The interest will fade. In time, nobody will even remember your name. In time, you will be able to return to demon world and get the new beginning, to live in peace, just like you wanted to."

"But…"

"It won't happen overnight though. And you need to stay well hidden in the mean time. You were very well hidden here in spirit world, so this is the only logical solution: go back to being the ferry girl for a little while, give it time for things to settle down and change in demon world and then you can go back. But you must give it time. Probably another thirty years should do it."

"That was your plan all along? Fake my death so that interest in the rebellion would fade?"

"If you had killed Jagasame, the war would have continued as his followers would have sought revenge. With him still alive and you and Tora gone, he will call off the hunt. Now, if you're wise, you'll use this time to learn and grow. That way, when you do go back, you and your little group can go back to the hinterlands unhindered and finish it the way you were meant to: kill Jagasame with your own hands and take back what's yours."

"Hiei… I never knew you thought so much about me–"

"This isn't about you. It's about Kurama."

"…What?"

Hiei shook his head and before Yasashi could press him any further on the matter he took off, quickly leaving spirit world altogether. Shortly afterwards, George returned to the room, carrying Koenma with him.

"Botan!" Koenma yelped, leaping from George's arms and waddling up to her fallen form.

"Koenma," she replied. "Listen, before you do anything, there's something I have to ask of you."

Koenma pulled the crystal of change out from beneath his hat and Yasashi's desperation multiplied.

"I'm ready to do this, what Hiei said made sense," she said. "But I don't want to lose my memories. I want to remember Tora and her sacrifices, I want to remember all the rebels, I want to visit Chita and help her lead the fight, I want to remember all the conversations I had with Yukina when I helped her travel to and from the living world, and I want to remember Kurama."

Koenma looked down at the crystal, his expression saddening.

"Yasashi, I don't even know if you'll remember your previous life as Botan once I put this back in you," he said solemnly. "But I'm absolutely certain you won't remember anything about your demon life. That's part of the trade the crystal makes. There's only one way to restore your memories, and that's to cut the crystal back out of you: but right now, you'll die if I don't use it."

"No, I want to remember," Yasashi insisted, watching helplessly as Koenma started to move the crystal towards the open wound in her chest. "I need to remember. Please don't take it from me…"

"I'm sorry."

Yasashi groaned and closed her eyes, already knowing that the psychological torment the crystal of change caused far out-weighed the physical pain of having a sharp stone wedged into an open wound. She could still remember how it felt when the crystal was embedded: its effects were not instant. She could remember hearing Koenma reading from the book that it took two full minutes for the transformation to be complete: but she was sure that was a lie. Maybe it only took two minutes for her physical self to transform, for her demon and life energy to be transformed into spirit energy, for her hair colour to change, for her eye colour to change, for her tail and ears to retract and for her body to shrink and her face to change; but the process of her memories being erased felt as though it took several hours. It was a gradual, painful process that she was fully conscious of throughout.

And it started with her mind's eye being presented by a blinding white that consumed everything, briefly blocking out any other image, making it impossible for her to picture anything at all. As soon as the crystal was fully implanted into her body, the whiteness vanished, to be replaced by her memories of her demon life, each one flashing into her mind with alarming clarity and then fading to white as it was robbed from her. She saw herself skipping classes with Tora to play in the river, but as the memory replayed in her mind, she found herself forgetting their teacher's name, forgetting the colour of the dress Tora had worn, forgetting the way the water had sounded rushing over the rocks, and eventually she had forgotten the memory entirely. She saw herself standing over Tora the day she had realised just how much stronger than Tora she was, the way her friend had looked up at her in fear and envy at first, but then in optimistic joy as she had then shared her idea of starting a rebellion against Jagasame and Iruka. But, just as before, Yasashi found herself straining to remember smaller details of the event, the background around Tora fading to white, and shortly taking Tora's face with it.

She saw Oyama begging her to take care of young Chita and she saw Oyama relaying secrets for many years to her and Tora and she saw Oyama covered in flowers floating out over the water and then, just as quickly, all memories of the cat demon's role, name and face were gone into the whiteness. She saw twin girls showing incredible strength from a young age and inspiring the other rebels that there was hope of a future for their group, but she could not remember their names. Or their faces. She wondered what she had even been thinking about; but not for long as she shortly found herself thinking about all the time she had walked from the boundaries of the ice village to the portal to the living world with Yukina. She thought about all the truly naïve questions Yukina had asked her as she encountered things she never had before being away from her cloistered existence in the ice village. She remembered that Yukina had asked some hilarious questions, but she found that she could not remember any of them. Or where she had been going with Yukina. Or why.

Yasashi saw a chaotic scene of destruction and a silver-haired fox demon standing serenely in the centre of it all with not so much as a single hair out of place. She saw him following her, the intense way he had regarded her, and she delighted in the way her ill-timed and often inappropriate jokes had caught him off-guard, broken through his impassiveness and forced his confusion to show in little hints of expression on his face. She thought about how she had made a plan of how she would deal with him, she thought about how it had not worked out when Iruka had almost killed her and she had ended up dying in spirit world.

She thought about all the things she had said to Koenma as she had lay dying in spirit world, and she was glad when that memory started to vanish.

She thought about how she had been reunited with Kurama when she had been returned to her demon form, how she had met him as Shuichi on Ping Island, how he had been so determined to help her, how she had kissed him, how he had looked when she had met him in demon world, once more as Yoko Kurama and how they had danced on the roof of the bunker. It was just one, small memory – two bodies dancing together in the moonlight – such a small and insignificant thing, surely it was something she did not have to lose. It did not even matter if she forgot what he had looked like, or how perfect the moon had been, she just needed to remember the feeling and the fact that it had happened. That one last dance.

Just that one thing.

Such a small thing.

She opened her eyes, blinking to clear the blurriness and bringing into focus a face staring at her.

"Koenma Sir?" she said.

She slowly sat up, looking about herself.

"How did I get here?" she asked.

She was in Koenma's office.

"I was on my way out of the temple a minute ago…" she added. "I was with Yukina and Koneko. And you were there too, Lord Koenma! Sir… Were you arrested by the SDF?"

Koenma smiled in what looked like relief.

"Welcome back, Botan," he said.

She got to her feet, looking about herself again as she started to feel angry.

"I was trying to get something, I know I was!" she said. "But somebody wouldn't give it to me! Is that why you were in trouble? What happened anyway? How did I end up here?"

"There was a bit of confusion, you were caught in the cross-fire and you were knocked unconscious," Koenma replied. "How do you feel now?"

Botan touched a finger to her chin and rolled her eyes up to the ceiling as she considered the question.

"Well I suppose I mostly feel confused," she concluded. "Weren't we in the middle of a mission? Some awful cat demons are in the living world, and they've taken Kuwabara and Hiei prisoner!"

Koenma smiled again.

"It's fine now Botan," he said.

"What do you mean, Sir?" she asked, looking down at him.

"It's all over," he replied. "Everything's all back to normal."

"Oh… Well that's good. I didn't like those cat demons. One of them attacked me, you know! She was so rude to me!"

"Well it's all over now."

"What about Yukina? Is she alright after her operation? Has she fully recovered now?"

"She's fine."

"Good. That's good. Maybe I should go and visit her…"

"Not right now, Botan. I think you should get some rest first."

"But I'm not tired."

"…Just get some rest, Botan."

Botan shrugged and decided not to argue the point any further: it was rare for Koenma to tell her she could have time off of her duties, and so she decided to take advantage of his inexplicable and uncharacteristic kindness that day.

* * *

"How did you get that?"

Chita looked up at Kurama, almost looking surprised by his question.

"Jagasame paid the bounty to Hiei for Yasashi," he pointed out. "I would have thought he would only have done so after he had taken the raspberry sundae."

"I don't know," Chita admitted. "It was the strangest thing: I tried to attack Jagasame, and I was thrown back just by the power of his defence shield, and when I landed, someone put this in my hand."

Chita – despite being airborne with the aid of a floating leaf with fronds supporting two of her fellow rebels – was still holding the raspberry sundae in both of her hands as though it was a precious thing she feared might break.

"It doesn't make any sense," Kurama insisted.

"Isn't it a good thing?" Kuwabara called up to him from his position hanging from one of the fronds of Kurama's floating leaf. "The rebels should have it, right?"

"It's a wonderful thing," Yukina added from her position hanging onto a frond opposite from Kuwabara. "It's like a part of Yasashi is living on with the rebellion."

"Yeah, it's a good thing, Kurama," Yusuke said.

Kurama looked over at Yusuke, who was sitting on Puu's back with Keiko and Shizuru, flying alongside Kurama's floating leaf.

"Why do you keep asking about it?" the mazoku asked as their eyes met. "It would suck if that bastard Jagasame had taken it."

"I still don't understand why Hiei had to kill Yasashi," Keiko said.

"He did what he was ordered to," Kurama said bitterly. "The border patrol were never in favour of the rebellion and their antics."

"Yeah, but when has Hiei ever followed orders?" Kuwabara asked.

"Especially when it's an order that means doing something that his friends don't agree with," Yusuke added.

"I don't know exactly what his motivations were," Kurama said. "But with both Tora and Yasashi gone, interest in the rebellion will not be what it once was: I suspect Jagasame might give up the hunt altogether, even though the rebellion more than doubled their number tonight. Jagasame never cared for Yasashi's followers, he only cared for controlling Yasashi herself: either by making her his wife or by killing her."

"So… Are you trying to say that Hiei did the right thing?" Keiko asked.

"I suppose, from an objective point of view, he did do the right thing," Shizuru replied.

"But he killed the good cat lady!" Kuwabara protested. "What's wrong with you, Shizuru? You've been in demon world too long, you're starting to sound weird!"

"Keep talking, baby bro," Shizuru replied, before taking a draw on a cigarette, "Kuroko said I need to practise my punches, I'm so glad you've just volunteered to be my own personal punch-bag."

Kuwabara grumbled complaints under his breath – despite looking terrified – but said no more.

"I know Hiei was pissed off that the cats managed to catch him, but I still think he went too far killing Yasashi," Yusuke said solemnly. "Come on Kurama, what's your take on this? One's your best friend and the other one was your girlfriend: did Hiei do the right thing? And don't you think we should have at least beat the crap out of that old bastard Jagasame?"

Kurama looked over at the raspberry sundae Chita was still holding onto so carefully. Something was amiss, something was not quite right, something about what had happened did not quite make sense: and Kurama needed more time and more information to figure out what it was. He needed to hear Hiei's honest opinion on what had happened and he needed to speak with Koenma.

Or, better still, he needed to get his hands on the Raspberry Sundae file from spirit world.

* * *

Koenma drummed his tiny fingers against his desk and sucked anxiously on his pacifier: but the woman before him was still glaring at him with a stubborn determination that he could already tell would not be reasoned with.

"The role you've performed in spirit world has been a very important and useful one," he began.

"I don't care," she tightly replied. "I can't do it any more. I was almost killed and if King Enma or the SDF had found what I was doing for you, they surely would have dealt with me most severely. I want to go back to my old life."

Koenma sighed and groaned simultaneously.

"Look, it's true that I employed you in this role in spirit world without my father's sanction," he admitted. "And it's true that I've asked you to do things I shouldn't have. But you've done such an excellent job and nobody else could do what you do. I don't want to lose you. I need you in this role."

"The Raspberry Sundae file is still missing, Sir. Until it reappears, I don't feel safe."

"I understand, but I'm fixing that."

"Really? How?"

Koenma went back to drumming his fingers against his desk, watching them as he did so. His hands looked pathetically small and delicate, and it reminded him that he had been lucky to make it to demon world and back when he had been hiding the Raspberry Sundae file, he would really be chancing fate if he repeated that mistake.

"Well, now that the cat demon situation is in hand, I need to meet with my spirit detective team to discuss what happened with them and to close out the report on the matter correctly," he concluded. "And when I meet with them, I will make arrangements for the file to be brought back to spirit world. There: are you happy now?"

"Not really Sir, no."

Koenma was starting to lose his patience, but he knew that the woman before him could cause him a lot of problems in both spirit world and demon world if she ever decided to tell anyone else what she knew about his indiscretions.

"I didn't choose this fate for myself Sir," she added. "You forced it upon him because of your actions."

"Yes, I know," he carefully replied. "But it's like the old saying: "some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them". In your case, it was the third example. But you have risen to the challenge that was thrust upon you with great aplomb and–"

"Sir?"

"Yes?"

"I don't see what was so great about what I did in spirit world these last thirty years. I only ended up where I did because I was unfortunate enough to look like the demon you were trying to hide here. You put me at great risk acting as a decoy for anyone looking for her and looking after the file you kept on her."

"Yes, Koneko, I know–"

"My name isn't even Koneko. It's Ran."

"Ran? Like the flower?"

"You named all your ferry girls after flowers, Sir. Even Botan."

"Ha!"

Koenma grinned brightly, but Koneko failed to share his mirth.

"It's funny because the ogre told me it was unoriginal for me to name Yasashi Botan when she became a spirit," he explained. "He accused me of naming her after her weapon and my choice of name being too obvious, but I was just following the pattern of naming ferry girls after flowers!"

"Right…" Koneko grumbled.

Koenma again felt his ire rise and he was forced to contain it, knowing only too well that Koneko could very well cause him a lot of problems if she revealed the full extent of what he had been doing lately to King Enma.

"What about if I gave you your very own office?" he offered.

"You already did that," Koneko flatly replied. "And for the record Sir, I don't think you really need me any more. You said yourself, the information Yasashi provided us with is old now, and not really so sought after by anyone that it needs such close protection. And now that everybody believes Yasashi is dead, you don't need a decoy here to cover for her if anybody ever discovers the truth."

"Everybody thought she was dead last time and look how that turned out!" Koenma pointed out. "And besides, it's not the information Yasashi gave to spirit world during her years as our spy that makes her file so valuable: it's everything that's written on the very last page of the file that makes it so valuable."

"Yasashi's last words?"

"That's part of it."

Koneko nodded and Koenma glared up at her from the corner of his eye.

"So will you return to your post as key keeper?" he asked.

"I suppose I will," she replied, sounding as though she might change her mind again at any moment.

"Good," Koenma said, not allowing her the chance to argue. "Excuse me, I must meet with my team and sort out recovering that file."

He leapt from his seat and hurried from the room before Koneko could say anything else or follow after him. He did not have to walk far along the corridor outside before he encountered Botan. He thought it a little odd that she was up and about again mere hours after he had ordered her to rest; but he quickly forgot all about her following orders as he realised that she was standing in front of a potted plant and studying it very closely with a very strange look on her face.

There was only two ways to undo the memory-erasing effects of the crystal of change, but Koenma did not like to take any chances; least of all on such an ancient treasure that had not been used for so long before it ended up creating Botan.

"Botan, there you are!" he said.

She turned to look at him, her expression oddly blank.

"I'm going on a little visit to the living world," he told her. "I thought you might like to come with me?"

"Oh, that sounds splendid, Sir!" she said cheerfully.

Koenma silently sighed in relief out of Botan's line of sight before the two set off together.


	22. Eternal Sunshine

**Chapter 22 – Eternal Sunshine  
**

The journey from the hinterlands of Alaric to the area of Tourin Yusuke had spoken of had been a slow and laborious one thanks to most of those travelling being either weakened from battle or just slow-moving. It had taken until nightfall to reach the destination and for everyone to say goodbye to the rebels: Yusuke had chosen to stay in demon world that night and the others had returned to the living world. The journey home was especially long for Kurama, who was obliged to first walk Keiko home to ensure that her parents had recovered from the effects of the raspberry sundaes Yasashi had filled their back garden with and then onto the Kuwabara household to check on Mister Kuwabara before he could finally go back to his own house. After checking on his stepbrother and his parents he had gladly cleaned himself up as best he could and gone to bed, where he had enjoyed all of forty minutes sleep before being awoken by the sound of his stepfather's alarm clock.

And so, still feeling confused, frustrated and also incredibly tired, Kurama found himself sitting at the dining table pretending to enjoy breakfast with his family.

"Shuichi, are you alright?" his mother asked.

"I'm fine mother," he flatly lied.

"Oh honey, you don't look fine," Shiori said, touching a hand to his forehead. "I hope you're not coming down with something."

"Maybe you've been working too hard, Shuichi," his stepfather suggested. "You look miserable."

"Maybe he looks miserable because things didn't work out between him and Botan," Kokoda suggested through a mouthful of food.

"Oh dear, is that true Shuichi?" Shiori asked.

Kurama smiled patiently and picked a chunk of half-chewed chocolate cereal from his hair where his stepbrother had inadvertently spat it.

"I'm fine mother," he insisted.

"Kazuya, maybe you should take a day off work and take Shuichi fishing to relax," Shiori suggested, turning to her husband expectantly.

"That sounds like a good idea," Kazuya agreed. "What do you say, Shuichi?"

Kurama looked over at his stepfather, again forcing a smile; but before he could force out another platitude, Kokoda spoke for him.

"Well if you two aren't going to work today, why do I have to go to school?" he asked.

"Because you have exams," Kazuya flatly answered him. "And don't think I don't remember you trying to sneak out to an all-night rave the other night…"

"It wasn't a "rave", dad!" Kokoda scoffed, rolling his eyes. "It was a house party," he added, turning to Kurama. "You should come with me next time, Shuichi. Last time, there were so many fit girls there. And some of them were older, like you."

"Next time?" Kazuya echoed. "There's not going to be a next time, young man!"

"You can't have a problem with me going if Shuichi comes with me, right?" Kokoda argued back. "You know he never steps out of line and you know I can't do anything bad if he's there."

"And you would do something bad if Shuichi wasn't there to check on you?"

"I didn't say that!"

Kurama turned to his mother as Kokoda and his father continued arguing. She gave him a sympathetic smile and touched a hand to his cheek.

"Don't work yourself too hard, honey," she said gently. "And if things haven't worked out with your girlfriend, maybe she's just not the one for you."

"I'll bear that in mind, mother," he said, forcing another smile.

She smiled and nodded, rising from the table. When it appeared that the argument between Kokoda and Kazuya was only going to worsen, Kurama quietly followed his mother's lead, slipping from the table and gathering his belongings, deciding that he may as well go to work early; after all, he had missed the last several days without any decent excuse and he was bound to be in bother with the boss when he got there.

Outside the sky was clear and the sun was beating down, reminding him that it was the start of summer, something he had almost forgotten amidst the recent chaos. And, as he got into his car, he remembered that it was also Wednesday, and the office he worked at closed early on Wednesdays, so at least he would not have to work a full day.

* * *

"Hey lady, I got some good news for you!"

Kuwabara recoiled from the counter of the ice cream parlour, screwing up his face in a combination of surprise and disgust at the shop owner's sudden and uncharacteristic exuberance. He appeared to be addressing Yukina, who was standing in front of the brightly-lit display of colourful ice creams, the side of one fist pressed against her chin as she scanned over the selection pensively.

"Just for you lady, I added raspberry sundae to the menu."

Yukina's head snapped up and she stared at the man behind the counter in almost fearful disbelief.

"Hey, do you mind?" Kuwabara intervened. "That's really insensitive to talk about that right now!"

The man behind the counter slowly turned his head towards Kuwabara, his eyes thinning as he did so.

"I don't like you," he said.

"The feeling's mutual, buddy," Kuwabara growled back.

"I'd like the raspberry sundae please," Yukina interrupted them.

"Of course!" the shop owner replied cheerfully, beaming down at her. "Do you want sprinkles or a cherry on top?"

Yukina shook her head.

"Just plain, please," she said.

The man turned his attention to Kuwabara, his smile vanishing again instantaneously.

"The double-chocolate fudge chunk supreme that's meant for four people to share but you'll eat it all to yourself?" he asked.

"I'm a growing boy!" Kuwabara protested.

"Yeah, growing out the way," the man behind the counter muttered. "Enjoy those 32-inch waist pants while you still can…"

"I burn off the calories!" Kuwabara argued, brandishing a fist in the air.

"Two thousand Yen."

"What?"

Kuwabara began fishing through his wallet for money, glowering at the man behind the counter the entire time. When he eventually had two thousand Yen in his hand – something that had required him emptying his wallet of notes and coins alike to achieve with only two coins left to his name – he slammed the money down on the counter.

"It had better be the best darn raspberry sundae ever, Mister!" he grumbled.

"It's beautiful," the man behind the counter sarcastically replied. "You'll weep when you taste it."

"I don't like you," Kuwabara growled.

"The feeling's mutual, "buddy"."

Kuwabara gave the man one last glare before turning around and opening the shop door, waving a hand at Yukina, who bowed her head at him and walked out ahead. He followed her over to their usual table on the street at the edge of the awning. It was an intensely sunny day, even for the time of year, and such weather always made Kuwabara fret: he knew Yukina did not cope so well with hot, sunny weather, being more accustomed to the cold, foggy weather of her home in the glacial village of demon world.

"I don't know what that guy's problem is," he said as he pulled out Yukina's chair for her to sit into.

"It was very kind of him to add raspberry sundae to the menu, just for me," Yukina said as she sat down.

"Yeah, I guess so," Kuwabara reluctantly agreed.

He moved around the table and sat down opposite her. She looked quite contented, despite the heat and the traumas she had endured since they had last sat outside the ice cream parlour; it had been a very eventful week, Kuwabara thought to himself. But it had given him a lot to think about.

"Yukina?" he began.

"Yes Kazuma?" she responded.

"I need to ask you a very important, life-changing question," he said.

He placed his elbows on the table and leaned forwards and she corresponding leaned a little closer to him.

"I was thinking, after everything that's happened lately, and with my dad being out the house a lot and with Shizuru working for spirit world now, you must spend a lot of time alone, huh?" he said.

"I don't mind," Yukina replied.

"I was thinking maybe you could come and live with me–"

"Well, well, fancy seeing the two of you here on a Wednesday afternoon."

Kuwabara slowly looked up, finding Kurama standing over him.

"Kurama," he said. "Hey, uh, don't you have stuff to do at work? I mean, you've been away from your job for a whole week–"

"It's fine," Kurama replied.

He pulled out a seat and sat down at the table, apparently oblivious to the awkwardness of the situation he had just interrupted.

"I trust you're not too tired," he said, turning to Kuwabara. "After arriving back so late last night and having to travel to university for classes this morning and then back here for your ice cream date with Yukina."

Kuwabara decided not to bother telling Kurama that he had actually slept through his alarm that morning, missed his train and not actually gone to his classes: Shizuru had been mad enough about it, though she had not really been able to argue the point with him as both she and Yukina had been so exhausted that they had done exactly the same thing as he had.

"Yeah, it's been a crazy week," he said instead.

"Hasn't it though?" Kurama responded.

"Have you been shopping, Mister Kurama?"

Kurama looked over at Yukina almost worriedly and Kuwabara started to feel sick as a worrying sense of déjà vu washed over him.

"It's nothing," Kurama said to Yukina.

Kuwabara narrowed his eyes suspiciously as Kurama pushed the dark green plastic bag by his feet under his chair, concealing it from view behind his feet.

"Lemme guess," Kuwabara said. "Just a birthday present you picked up for your mom from a plant shop when you were looking for rogue demon plants?"

Kurama turned to Kuwabara, something slightly threatening in his eyes as he did so.

"Did you manage to acquire a birthday present for your sister yet, Kuwabara?" he asked.

"No," Kuwabara slowly replied, remembering then that he had told that lie to Kurama the week before. "Show me the plant you got your mom. Maybe I could get the same one for Shizuru."

Kurama gave Kuwabara a long, hard look before slowly retrieving the bag from under his chair and placing it onto the table between them. When he opened it out, Kuwabara and even Yukina gasped at what they saw.

"What the hell is that thing?" Kuwabara yelped.

"Why is it so ugly?" Yukina asked.

Kurama and Kuwabara both looked over at her and she looked a little flustered but made no attempt to retract her uncharacteristically blunt question.

"It's just something I felt I should get," Kurama said. "It's not something I wanted to admit to purchasing and I knew the plant shop by my office complex sold them, so I went and bought one after I finished work today."

"But why would you buy one of those things?" Kuwabara asked.

"Why would anybody manufacture something so horrible?" Yukina asked.

"It's not my taste, but I require it as a peace offering," Kurama replied.

"A peace offering?" Kuwabara echoed. "That thing is so creepy it's enough to make people go to war!"

Kurama gave Kuwabara a look that told him he was being ridiculous, but the look did not last long as something appeared to catch his attention behind Kuwabara's head. Kuwabara turned to see what the fox demon was suddenly looking at, feeling less than surprised to see Hiei suddenly standing behind his chair.

"What hell is that ugly thing?" Hiei asked, nodding at the ornament resting in the green plastic bag on the table.

"It's a gift for someone," Kurama calmly replied.

"Looks more like an urn for the ashes of somebody you hate," Hiei sneered. "Or perhaps an ornate latrine. Either way, it's incredibly ugly and I don't like it."

Hiei moved over to sit down into the remaining seat at the table, facing Kurama.

"Luckily this is not a present for anyone at this table then," Kurama said, a hint of irritation creeping into his tone.

"I don't like looking at it," Yukina said quietly. "Would you please cover it up and put it away, Mister Kurama?"

"Yes Kurama, put your crap away," Hiei added.

Kurama started to reach his hands towards the bag as though he intended to do as Yukina and Hiei had asked: but he stopped short of his goal, fixing his eyes onto Hiei. In that moment, it occurred to Kuwabara that Kurama and Hiei had not confronted each other since Hiei had killed Yasashi and collected the bounty for taking her life.

"What brings you here, Hiei?" Kurama asked in a low voice.

"My timing is coincidental, I assure you," Hiei replied. "I certainly wasn't lured here by that ugly thing."

"I don't care what you think about it," Kurama said dismissively.

"Maybe you should reconsider," Yukina suggested. "It's not a very nice gift to give to someone."

Kurama gave her an odd look and she paled noticeably before lowering her head. He then turned his attention back to Hiei, and the two proceeded to glare at each other across the table. Kuwabara did not think that he had ever seen the two so at odds – though he could understand why they now were – and he wished they had chosen to have their confrontation somewhere other than his Wednesday afternoon ice cream date with Yukina: something that was usually pleasant and easy and delightful.

Two weeks in a row it had been ruined now though, he thought bitterly. First by Kurama and Hiei arguing over a flower and a cat demon (literally) dropping in on them and now by Kurama and Hiei arguing over an ornament and a cat demon (literally) dropping in on them.

Everyone sitting at the table froze, four pairs of eyes staring unblinkingly at the figure that appeared to have dropped out of the sky to land in a crouch on their table.

After some meowing and pawing at the ugly ornament Kurama had inexplicably spent money acquiring, the cat woman lifted her head, her eyes landing on Kuwabara, much to his chagrin.

"Oh Kuwabara, it's so nice to see you safe and sound again!"

Kuwabara's face dropped as the cat face in front of him dissolved into the face of a familiar blue-haired, pink-eyed ferry girl.

"This is just lovely!" Botan added, picking up the ugly ornament from the table. "Is this yours, Kuwabara?"

"Oh God no!" Kuwabara replied.

"Hn," Hiei grunted from the other side of the table.

"I love the maneki-neko," Botan said, holding up the ugly ornament beside her face. "I collect them. They make me smile!"

She pulled her cat face again, pawing her free hand in the air; and then Kuwabara finally understood what he was looking at.

"Oh, that ugly thing is supposed to be a lucky cat ornament?" he asked.

"It's adorable!" Botan said, turning it around to look at it, her cat face fading again.

"It's yours."

Everyone – including Botan – turned to Kurama.

"I bought it for you, Botan," Kurama said. "I just wanted to… I thought it would be appropriate to give you a gift to–"

"Oh, Kurama!"

Botan leapt off the table and approached the side of Kurama's chair, throwing her arms around his shoulders. Kuwabara was mildly relieved to see Kurama looking as confused as he felt.

"You remembered!" Botan said as she finally released Kurama from her awkward and crushing embrace. "Even Yusuke and Lord Koenma forgot, but at least one person remembered!"

Yukina and Hiei exchanged strange looks, the sight of which only made Kuwabara feel even more bewildered.

"Well anyway, I just dropped by to remind you all that Lord Koenma wants everyone to meet with him tonight at Genkai's old temple," Botan said.

She looked around the table, her eyes passing over and then returning to Hiei: and again Kuwabara found the way Hiei looked up at her to be very odd.

"I'm so glad those nasty cat demons didn't hurt you when they took you prisoner, Hiei," Botan said.

"I don't have time to meet with Koenma," Hiei answered her. "And besides, I have nothing to say to him."

"Maybe he has something to say to you, Hiei," Kurama said. "Something about a bounty you recently collected."

"Hn, you don't know what you're talking about, Kurama."

Kurama stood up abruptly and Hiei copied his action.

"Oh dear!" Botan said, clutching the ugly cat ornament to her chest. "You boys aren't fighting with each other, are you?"

Kurama and Hiei glared at each other and Kuwabara stood up, readying himself to tell them both to back off: but before he got the chance to speak, his thought process was interrupted.

"Here we are, one ridiculously enormous serving of fat and sugar…"

The shop owner placed Kuwabara's enormous desert on the table.

"And one raspberry sundae for the lady."

He placed the raspberry sundae down in front of Yukina, and Hiei and Kurama both turned to look down at it.

"Enjoy!" the shop owner said, before walking away again and grumbling about "weird kids" under his breath as he went.

"Hey Botan, what does Koenma need to see me about?" Kuwabara asked Botan.

"Oh well, I don't really know," she replied.

"I thought Keiko and Shizuru were the spirit detectives now," Kuwabara complained. "What do you guys think it's all about?"

Kuwabara turned around to find himself suddenly alone at the table.

"My goodness, they left in a hurry!" Botan commented.

"Where did Yukina go?" Kuwabara asked, pointing at her untouched raspberry sundae.

"I don't know," Botan said, narrowing her eyes and planting her hands on her hips. "But it was mighty suspicious the way all three demons disappeared when I said Lord Koenma wanted to speak with them…"

"Yeah, it's like they had something to hide…" Kuwabara agreed.

"Even Yukina…" Botan said.

"What?" Kuwabara echoed.

Botan turned to him, looking far less concerned than he thought she ought to.

"Well I'm not too worried," she said with a shrug. "At least Kurama remembered that today is exactly ten years to the day that I was made assistant to the spirit detective. Even Yusuke didn't remember. And look: I got this lovely maneki-neko to boot!"

Kuwabara gave her a flat look.

"Botan, I swear that is the ugliest, nastiest, creepiest cat I've ever seen," he said. "And this last week, I've seen a whole mess of ugly, nasty and creepy cats…"

Botan pouted at him but he held his expression until she finally harrumphed and summoned her oar, flying off with her ugly little trophy as though it was something to be proud of.

* * *

Running in a formal shirt and trousers was harder than Kurama remembered it to be, but his determination kept him going, and, as soon as he was comfortably far enough away from the city streets and out of sight of any potential human witnesses, he drew out his rose whip, lashing it forwards without hesitation or restraint. He had not expected to strike his target on his first attempt, and so when Hiei grunted and fell to the forest floor, Kurama almost ran right past him in his disbelief. Stumbling to a halt just short of the fire demon as he started to rise to his feet, Kurama glared down at him expectantly.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Hiei growled, swiping a hand at the tear in the back of his clothing.

He brought his hand around to reveal a small smear of blood where his knuckles had brushed over the shallow laceration that had been opened diagonally across his back.

"I understand that you wanted an end to the war between the two factions of the cat demon tribe," Kurama replied. "But it was unnecessary for you to both slaughter Yasashi and for you to collect the bounty on her head. Explain yourself."

"You're the one who should be explaining yourself, Kurama," Hiei replied. "You let your own personal feelings cloud your judgement: you have no idea what was really going on, and you probably never will."

"This has nothing to do with personal feelings," Kurama retaliated. "This is pure logic: why did you slay the hunted and not the hunter? With Jagasame still around, do you really think the fight is over?"

"I know it's over," Hiei said. "Iruka's henchmen have moved on, and without them around to propagate the wanted posters, there are no longer any active bounties against any of the cat demons. Give it a little longer, and everyone will start to feel exactly the same way about the whole situation that I do: they won't care."

"What about the rebels that are still fleeing?"

"They're hardly fleeing: didn't Yusuke set them up with a new home in his back garden in Tourin?"

"Yusuke at least had the foresight to give help to those who needed it, and not to further the desires of a tyrannical oppressor."

Hiei gave Kurama a slightly condescending, vaguely pitying, but mostly bored look.

"If I had wanted to help the tyrant," he said slowly and borderline sarcastically. "If I had wanted to "further the desires" of the oppressor, I would have given him the girl and let him torture and abuse her for the rest of his miserable life."

"You collected the bounty on her head, Hiei," Kurama pointed out.

"Why not?" Hiei replied. "It was there to be taken after what I'd done. Money wasn't my only motivation of course: if it had been then, again, I would have handed over the girl – and the rest of her pathetic cronies – to Jagasame alive. The prize for handing over a captive alive is always higher: surely you know that better than even I do, Kurama."

Kurama slowly shook his head.

"I've never killed anyone in such a vulnerable position as Yasashi," he said. "I never would have. There was no honour in what you did."

"You're not really in any position to be calling my honour into question," Hiei coldly replied. "I suggest, before you continue this embarrassing little crusade of yours to avenge the girl, you check your facts."

Kurama returned his rose whip to its simple rose form and slid it back into his hair, his eyes never leaving Hiei as he did so.

"You might want to pay a visit to spirit world," Hiei suggested once Kurama's weapon was out of sight. "I'm not the one who owes you an explanation."

Kurama suspected that Hiei was either referencing the spirit world file of Yasashi's life that she had spoken of or Koenma himself; and, deep down, he knew that he probably did need to garner more information from spirit world to better understand Hiei's actions, as the fire demon was unlikely to ever fully explain why he acted the way he had.

And so, when Hiei ran off again, Kurama let him go.

* * *

Yusuke cursed under his breath as Puu began to descend towards the grounds outside of Enki's home and he caught sight of Kokou staggering about apparently looking for something. He had hoped to avoid seeing her that day, and when she looked up and began glaring at him on his approach, he silently wondered how Koenma had managed to get to Enki without having to deal with his crabby lush of a wife.

"Hey Mini Raizen," she greeted him as he leapt down from Puu's back.

"Hey you!" he replied, pretending to looked pleased to see her as he edged past Puu and aimed himself towards the door into Enki's home.

"You're timing's pretty good actually," Kokou said as Yusuke darted towards the door. "I was getting bored out here and felt like a workout."

She may have said more, but Yusuke had already made it indoors by then and he did not slow down until he finally located Enki, sitting on a stone bench with his feet propped up on a table piled high with magazines and papers, reading something.

"Hey Enki, how's it going?" Yusuke greeted him.

"Yusuke!" Enki said, putting down what he had been reading. "What brings you here?"

"It's not a social call, unfortunately," Yusuke replied. "Koenma asked me to come here as a favour."

"He wants his file back?" Enki asked.

"Yeah."

"Well, it's around here somewhere…"

Enki leaned forwards and began searching through the piles of documents on the table; which, Yusuke noticed, were not exactly carefully arranged or cared for.

"Hey Enki?" Yusuke began as he watched his friend pick a piece of melted cheese from a magazine about motorbikes. "Why did Koenma give the file to you anyway?"

"I don't know," Enki replied. "He just said he needed to keep it somewhere nobody would think to look for it and he asked me to hide it."

"Right," Yusuke said, nodding his head. "Well, I guess he wasn't so crazy, because this table covered with crap is the last place I'd go looking for a top secret spirit world file."

Enki paused his search to smile up at Yusuke.

"Who knows, maybe there's more than one top secret spirit world file buried in here!" he said.

Yusuke laughed nervously – though a part of him was certain that Enki was not joking – and he was relieved when he finally produced a relatively clean document folder with Koenma's royal seal on it.

"Here we are," he said, handing the folder to Yusuke.

Yusuke slowly accepted it, running his eyes over it carefully.

"You, uh, didn't happen to read any of it, did you?" he asked.

It looked as though the file had been opened and then hastily reassembled, as though someone had been reading the file at a time when they ought not to have been and then hurriedly shoved everything back into it when they had almost been caught in the act.

"No," Enki said with a casual shrug. "I don't really care about spirit world business. And Koenma said the file contained information about the cat demons: and they've always been more bother than they're worth."

Yusuke nodded.

"Seriously Yusuke," Enki said, standing up and actually looking serious. "Anything involving the cat demons is way more bother than it's worth. If I were you, I'd get that file back to Koenma as soon as possible, and make sure nobody knows you ever touched it."

"Thanks," Yusuke said. "I'll make sure I get it back to Koenma."

Enki gave him a slightly strange look, but Yusuke ignored him and waved his goodbye, hurrying back outside and throwing himself onto Puu's back before Kokou could reach him. She shouted at him as Puu took off and he pulled faces at her until she was out of sight, at which point he repositioned himself to sit cross-legged on Puu's back, with the file resting on his legs.

"Hold on, Puu," he said as he noticed the portal up ahead. "Just… Hover for a bit…"

Puu obediently held his position as Yusuke opened up the file and emptied out the contents. At first it looked interesting: pages and pages of secrets Yasashi had reported to spirit world. But after skimming over the first few, Yusuke realised two things that made looking through the file infinitely less enjoyable: first of all, the information was all over thirty years old, and secondly, he hated reading.

Yusuke began stuffing the reports back into the file, only briefly looking at each one, seeing that they all followed a similar format. He only stopped when he reached the very last report, which was visibly different, and seemed to be more about Yasashi herself than the secrets she had disclosed to spirit world.

"Today Yasashi was attacked and mortally wounded," Yusuke read aloud. "Blah, blah, blah, I felt obliged to act to preserve her life the only way I could under the circumstances, and so I took the decision to use the crystal of change, blah, blah, blah, told her I would probably call her Botan in her new life–"

Yusuke stopped abruptly, the sound of Puu's wings beating in the air suddenly sounding strangely loud and hypnotic.

"I told her I would probably call her Botan in her new life as a spirit of spirit world," he slowly read aloud. "Because all my ferry girls are named after flowers, and it seemed appropriate to name her after the peony she had used as a weapon. When I inserted the crystal of change, the transformation was almost instantaneous, though she was incoherent for several minutes afterwards. When she finally came to, the effects of the crystal were not as I had expected…"

Yusuke skimmed over the rest of the information before lowering the report and looking out at the portal ahead.

"So wait…" he muttered to himself. "Does that mean…? All this time it was…?"

He slowly lifted up the report again, turning the page to find a long passage preceded by a line of text that only made the situation even more bizarre.

"Even though Yasashi had always spoken only of her desire for freedom and a peaceful place for her fellow rebels to live, her final words did not concern the rebellion or indeed any of the rebels," he read aloud. "Rather her final words concerned only a fox demon bandit by the name of Yoko Kurama…"

Yusuke scanned over the surprisingly long chunk of text that apparently represented Yasashi's final words before stuffing the document into the folder and closing it over.

"Huh…" he said. "And here I thought this crap couldn't get any weirder… Puu?"

Puu called out responsively at the sound of his name.

"Take me to the living world," Yusuke said. "But don't take me to Genkai's place. Take me to Kurama."

* * *

"It's such a lovely day."

"It'd be a whole lot lovelier if you'd put away that ugly thing."

Botan turned to glower up at Kuwabara, who was already glowering back at her. After going their separate ways at the ice cream parlour earlier that day, they had ended up coming back together as they both found Yukina in the gardens of Genkai's temple.

"Some of us happen to like the maneki-neko," Botan said to Kuwabara. "You like cats, you ought to understand!"

"Not really…" Kuwabara muttered.

Botan shook her head at him and turned her attention to Yukina, who was still standing on a bridge over one of the ponds, looking strangely sad and thoughtful.

"Sweetie, are you alright?" Botan called over to her.

"I'm thinking," Yukina replied.

"What are you thinking about, baby?" Kuwabara asked her.

Yukina did not answer him, but neither Botan nor Kuwabara had expected her to, as they had already had the exact same conversation with her twice before, and she had yet to explain what she was thinking about.

"It's such a lovely day, the sun is shining and the sky is so clear, I just can't stand to see her so sad, especially on a day like this!" Botan said to Kuwabara.

"She's sad because her friend died," Kuwabara explained.

"Her friend?" Botan asked.

"Yeah, the leader of the rebel cat demons," Kuwabara replied. "She was Yukina's friend and then Hiei killed her."

Botan looked confused and Kuwabara sighed.

"Yeah, it was really harsh," he said. "You weren't there, so you don't know, but lots of crazy stuff happened."

"I always miss out on all the fun…" Botan grumbled.

"It was hardly any fun, Botan," Kuwabara replied. "Didn't you hear what I said? Hiei killed Yukina's friend."

"Yes, but wasn't Yukina's friend the leader of the group who took you hostage?"

"Well, yeah, but they were okay once they got their leader back."

"I don't know about that, Kuwabara. Lord Koenma said they were troublemakers."

"Yeah, but they didn't deserve what happened to them."

"Well, if you say so… Still, there must be something we can do to cheer Yukina up?"

Kuwabara looked over at Yukina for a long moment before shrugging.

"Yukina?" Botan called over to her. "Would you like some tea? You didn't even touch that lovely ice cream that Kuwabara bought for you."

Kuwabara's face dropped as he remembered then that he had walked away from the ice cream parlour and left both Yukina's and his own order uneaten: and it had cost him two thousand Yen.

"How about some tea?" Botan asked.

Yukina lifted her head, her eyes looking at Botan in a strange way that made Kuwabara forget all about getting ripped off by the owner of the ice cream parlour.

"I need to find something," she said. "Would you help me?"

Botan turned to Kuwabara.

"Yeah," he said, before turning to Yukina. "We can help you find it!"

"What is it you need?" Botan asked.

Yukina slowly walked across the bridge and started towards them.

"I need to find something with my jagan eye," she said. "But sometimes I lose control when I try to use the power. Will you hold my hands while I try?"

"Sure thing, my love!" Kuwabara said cheerfully.

He grinned and held out his hands, his expression only faltering when Yukina walked past him and took both of Botan's hands in hers. He turned to pout at the back of Yukina's head, but neither Yukina nor Botan acknowledged him.

"What do I need to do?" Botan asked.

"Just be there for me," Yukina replied.

"Oh I can do that, no problem, Yukina!" Botan cheerfully replied.

Yukina smiled and then released Botan's hands long enough to remove her bandana.

"I made that bandana for you, you know," Botan commented as Yukina passed it to Kuwabara.

Kuwabara awkwardly caught the bandana and Yukina took hold of Botan's hands again, closing her eyes and opening her third eye. Botan looked a little afraid, but she did not move. Kuwabara wondered what Yukina was looking for and why she thought Botan would be a better person to help her keep control of power than he was.


	23. Reflections

**Chapter 23 – Reflections**

"It was nice to see Botan again."

"Right…"

Shizuru frowned at Keiko from her position behind the wheel of her car, but Keiko appeared to be unfazed by the implications of Botan's return.

"You didn't think it was weird that Botan is back?" she asked.

Keiko shook her head. Shizuru turned back to the road, slowing her car and steering around a particularly nasty pot-hole in the crudely fashioned forest road that would ultimately take them to Genkai's temple.

"It must have been hard for her though," Keiko said.

"Yeah…" Shizuru said slowly. "How so?"

"Well, she was detained in spirit world like Koenma, wasn't she?" Keiko responded.

"Right," Shizuru said.

She still thought it odd that Keiko had neither figured out that Yasashi had been Botan nor that Botan's absence and sudden return coincided with Yasashi's return and then death. Shizuru was not sure how Yasashi had become Botan, but she had been under the impression that they were not two souls sharing a body like Kurama and Shuichi, rather they were one in the same; the ferry girl Botan was a disguise rather than a separate entity. How then, she wondered, after Yasashi had been killed, was it possible for Botan to appear before her that day – carrying an ugly cat ornament, no less – and cheerfully asked her to come to Genkai's temple for a meeting with Koenma?

"I hope Koenma isn't gonna give us another mission," Keiko said. "It's not that I don't want to do it, it's just that I definitely need a rest after that last one…"

"Yeah, a rest sounds good," Shizuru replied.

Though inwardly she was beginning to suspect that the mission they had just been involved in was not quite over yet.

As she rounded a sharp bend in the road and began to drive up a steeper slope, Shizuru started to catch up to another car. Whilst she was not surprised to see Kurama's car on the road, she was more than a little surprised to see Yusuke in the car with him: she had thought that Yusuke had stayed in demon world, and would have made his own way to the temple or else travelled by Puu or with Keiko. And, as they parked up outside the temple, a glance at Keiko told Shizuru that her friend was having the same thoughts that she was.

"Hey, spirit detective team," Yusuke greeted Keiko and Shizuru as they exited the car. "New Yusuke," he said, nodding at Keiko. "New Kurama," he said, nodding at Shizuru. "So where's New Hiei?"

"Yukina's already here," Keiko replied. "But why did you come here with Kurama? I thought you were coming from demon world: why didn't you just take Puu?"

Yusuke's face changed and Shizuru started to think that maybe he too had figured out what was going on.

"I needed to get a little something from Kurama before I came here," he said.

"Like what?" Keiko asked, hints of suspicion and irritation creeping into her tone.

"Like this," he replied, producing something from his coat pocket.

Shizuru's eyes widened in surprise at first, but as she realised what Yusuke was holding, she started to understand and she began to smile.

"A giant plum?" Keiko asked.

"Not quite," Yusuke answered.

"It's a fruit of the previous life," Kurama added.

Keiko looked around the others, her frown deepening.

"I-I don't understand," she admitted. "What do you need that for?"

"Watch and you'll find out," Yusuke replied.

He started to walk off and Keiko turned expectantly to Kurama, who gave a small shrug.

"He wouldn't tell me why he needed it," he said. "But he refused to leave my house without it."

Shizuru continued smiling until she caught Keiko giving her a suspicious look.

"It'll all become clear soon enough, kid," she said. "Let's go inside. This should be good."

* * *

"What is that ugly thing?" Koenma asked, pointing an accusing finger at the ornament in Botan's hands.

"That's exactly what I said," Kuwabara said.

"Some of us happen to like these!" Botan argued back.

"That better not be coming back to spirit world with us," Koenma warned.

Botan pouted at him.

"You're always so much meaner when you take that form, Sir!" she complained, referring to the fact that Koenma had taken his adult form to visit the living world.

Koenma sighed and made to tell Botan in no uncertain terms that she could leave the ugly cat ornament wherever she had found it, since her room in spirit world was already littered with similar things; but before he could finish his thoughts he was interrupted by the arrival of the others.

"Yusuke!" he said, turning his attention first to the former spirit detective. "Did you get a chance to do that little favour I asked of you?"

"No," Yusuke replied.

Koenma's face dropped but Yusuke appeared not to notice or to care as he carried on into the room and sat down on the floor. Koenma made to admonish Yusuke for not immediately recovering the Raspberry Sundae file as he had asked him to do, but again he found himself stopping as something else occurred to him.

"We're a man short," he said.

Kuwabara snorted into his hand.

"It's funny because Hiei is short," he said.

Koenma sighed patiently.

"Does anybody know where Hiei is?" he asked. "Did Hiei know he was expected to be here tonight?"

"I passed on the message, Sir," Botan replied. "But he seemed like he was in an awful snippy mood."

"Did he say he would come?" Koenma asked.

"I doubt he will," Kurama answered. "The last time I saw him, he appeared to be returning to demon world."

"So he came to the living world today, but he couldn't stay a little longer just to come here and meet with the rest of us?" Koenma asked.

"That's Hiei for ya," Yusuke said. "But he always shows up when we need him…"

Koenma silently wondered why Yusuke shot Botan a pointed look after his last remark, but when Botan appeared not to notice and Yusuke said no more, he decided not to question the matter.

"Well, regardless, we should…"

Koenma's voice trailed off as he looked around the room again.

"Okay…" he said slowly. "Looks like we're a woman short too."

The others looked around themselves.

"Nah, Yukina's just in the kitchen making the tea, right?" Yusuke concluded.

"Or maybe she's taking her role as New Hiei seriously and she's disappeared too," Shizuru said.

The others laughed, but when Shizuru remained serious, Koenma suspected that there was more truth to her words than anyone else realised.

"Well, moving on," he said. "I called you all here to just remind you that even though we have returned the cat demons to demon world, they left quite a mess on Ping Island. At the moment, the flowers there are stopping anyone from actually reaching the island without falling unconscious, and that poses a serious drowning risk. And, if the flowers should fade for any reason, there will then be the issue of the dead demon bodies left behind from the battle against Iruka's bandits."

"You're asking us to go on caretaker duty?" Yusuke asked.

"Aw, man!" Kuwabara moaned. "You called us all the way out here just to ask us to clean up? Gees, it's no wonder Hiei didn't show up…"

"The task shouldn't be a very onerous one," Kurama said, much to Koenma's relief, as the others had begun to get unsettled, and Kurama's calming words brought them all back to order. "The flowers there were planted by Yasashi and possibly Tora, and grown using demon energy. With both Yasashi and Tora gone, the flowers will have died too. Our biggest and perhaps only concern will be removing any of Iruka's bandits who perished there."

Koenma's relief turned to panic.

"You're right," he quickly said. "It is really unfair of me to ask you to clean up the island after all the work you've all done lately. I'll just send one or two of the SDF officers to sort it out."

Yusuke and Keiko both fixed narrowed, suspicious eyes onto the prince of spirit world, who expertly hid his rising panic behind a mask of impassivity.

"Where is Yukina with that tea?" he said instead, looking back over his shoulder expectantly.

From the corner of his eye he saw Yusuke and Keiko turn to each other and exchange knowing looks, but he did not dare question them on it.

"Well while we're waiting for Yukina to bring the tea, why don't we start with a little snack?"

Koenma, his interest piqued, turned to look directly at Yusuke.

"Hey Botan, heads up," Yusuke said, taking something from his coat pocket and throwing it at Botan.

She released her maneki-neko and barely managed to catch what he had thrown, looking down at it curiously at first before breaking into a grin.

"It looks lovely, Yusuke!" she said. "Is it a damson or a plum?"

"Who cares," Yusuke flatly replied. "Just eat it."

Botan opened her mouth and lifted the fruit towards it, stopping just short of taking a bite as her eyes flicked between the others sitting around her. She slowly retracted her hand and closed her mouth, looking over at Yusuke sceptically.

"Why didn't you bring enough for everyone else?" she asked him.

"I know how much you like damsels, so I just brought one for you, Botan," Yusuke replied, his tone laden with false pleasantry.

"Damsons," Botan corrected him, before breaking into a grin. "And you did remember! This is my gift to celebrate ten years as assistant to the spirit detective, isn't it?"

"Whatever," Yusuke said, waving a hand at her. "Just eat the damn fruit."

Botan shrugged and took a large bite out of the fruit in her hands. Yusuke and Shizuru leaned forwards, staring intently at her and Kurama tilted his head curiously.

"This is delicious!" Botan said through a mouthful of fruit. "Where did you get such a lovely damson?"

She swallowed the contents of her mouth and took another bite, looking over at Yusuke expectantly. He answered her only with a grin, but she got the reply she sought from another member of the group.

"It's a fruit of previous life, you dope," Koenma growled at her.

Botan froze, dropping the fruit and touching her hands to her mouth. She slowly turned her head to look back at Koenma, her eyes wide and fearful.

"You should have recognised what it was, it came from spirit world!" Koenma added as their eyes met.

She began frantically trying to spit out the contents of her mouth, throwing it down on the floor and then hastily wiping the juice from hands onto her clothing.

"I can feel myself turning into a little girl already!" she wailed, tears forming in her eyes. "Yusuke! How could you do this to me! And on our anniversary, too!"

Yusuke looked slightly less than pleased but generally unaffected by Botan's words.

"It's not turning you into a little girl, you idiot," Koenma said.

"Then why am I crying like a little girl?" Botan asked.

"Because you're over-reacting!" Koenma sternly replied. "Snap out of it!"

"Maybe I'm reverting back to my previous life then…" Botan said.

Yusuke and Shizuru leaned further forwards and Koenma was glad when Kurama said the words he had been about to say; though with far less tact.

"Botan, the fruit of previous life only works on someone who has had a previous or earlier life," the fox demon calmly explained. "As a ferry girl, you have neither a previous life to revert to nor a younger form to take: the fruit will have no effect on you other than to leave a slightly bitter aftertaste in your mouth."

"Oh…" Botan said quietly.

She glanced back at Koenma one last time before looking down at the sticky mess of half-chewed fruit she had thrown onto the floor.

"Excuse me," she said, standing up and hurrying from the room.

Once he was confident that she was out of earshot, Koenma rounded on Yusuke.

"First of all, where did you get that from, and secondly, what were you thinking giving it to Botan?" he demanded.

Yusuke shrugged and started to try to joke off what had happened. Koenma marched forwards and grabbed up the maneki-neko Botan had abandoned, holding it up.

"And who gave her this?" he asked.

"I did," Kurama confessed.

"Why?" Koenma asked, turning to look at him.

"She believes I gave it to her as a gift to celebrate that today is ten years to the day since you made her Yusuke's assistant," Kurama replied.

"Yeah but why did you really get it for her?" Yusuke asked.

"I wanted to apologise to her," Kurama replied.

"For what?" Koenma asked.

"Something I said and did a little while ago," Kurama said. "It was inappropriate and an attempted abuse of our friendship."

"I wonder when that happened…" Koenma muttered.

Keiko and Kuwabara exchanged confused looks.

"This is getting weird…" Kuwabara said.

"And awkward…" Keiko added.

Koenma stepped back as Botan returned to the room with a spray bottle of cleaning fluid and a cloth and hurried over to start cleaning up the mess she had made.

"So, we're off the hook for cleaning up the cat litter?" Yusuke asked, smirking at Koenma.

"It looks like it," Koenma tightly replied.

* * *

Yukina stopped to catch her breath. She could have taken Puu to reach her destination far quicker, but she had not wanted anyone to notice her absence, and she knew that taking Puu would alert Yusuke. As she recovered herself she looked over at the building she had been searching for. When she had held Botan's hands and concentrated on what she sought, she had been afforded a vision of the building and how to find it: but unfortunately her vision had ended there. After one last deep sigh she straightened up and started towards the entrance, trying to keep her head high and trying to look like she belonged in the dirty little shanty town of demon world she travelled to (Yasashi had always advised her to keep her head up and look confident when visiting a new part of demon world as doing so would ensure nobody watching her would mark her as a tourist or someone new to town).

She pushed open a wooden door and stepped into a smoky bar, the tables mostly populated by large and scarred demons. She quietly wove her way through the mess of tables and chairs and broken crockery, making her way to the bar itself. She hoped that the bartender might be able to help her find what she sought.

"Excuse me?" she said as she reached the bar. "I'm looking for something and I wondered if you might know where I could find it."

"Who wants to know?"

Yukina paused as the centipede demon turned to fully face her, flicking a dirty cloth over one shoulder and placing a grubby glass mug down onto the bar surface.

"I do, Sir," she said when she realised that he was awaiting some sort of response. "My name is Yukina."

"An ice maiden, huh?" the bartender responded. "Never understood those weird glass things you keep in your hair."

Yukina self-consciously touched a hand to the red hair ornament she was wearing.

"What are you ordering, Yukina?" the bartender continued. "Because this isn't a social club, it's a bar. You buy a drink, or you get out."

"Oh, no, I'm sorry, I'm not here to drink," Yukina replied, trying to refocus the conversation back onto her main purpose for being there. "I'm looking for a treasure. Would you know where I could find something like that?"

"Who wants to know?"

Yukina faltered slightly.

"Well, I do, obviously," she quietly replied.

"Buy a drink, leave me a generous tip and maybe we can talk."

Yukina decided against admitting that she did not have any money on her: as the bartender had already recognised her as an ice apparition, he would probably only suggest she cry her payment for anything she ordered.

"Please Sir, this is really important," she tried instead. "I have to find a special treasure from spirit world."

Yukina realised her mistake when the entire room fell silent. She wondered how it was that her softly spoken words had been heard at the other end of the room over the previous rabble of rowdy conversation, but regardless the room had silenced and she could see, in the reflective surface at the back of the bar, that all the patrons of the bar were turned in her direction.

"Listen Yukina, I ain't the sort who keeps anything from spirit world," the bartender said, resting one of his many elbows on the bar surface and leaning closer to her. "And even I was the sort who kept things from spirit world, I wouldn't admit it anybody. I ain't suicidal. I'm just an honest, hard-working guy, trying to run a bar. So either you order a drink, or you leave."

Yukina sighed in defeat and the noise began to grow behind her again as everyone else returned to their drinks and conversations.

"Are you sure this isn't the place where the treasure is hidden?" she asked. "It's just one thing I'm looking for. You maybe have it but you don't even realise it. Can't you please take a look for me?"

"Yukina, I ain't even got one thing from spirit world," the bartender said. "Like I said, I'm just an honest, hard-working guy who serves drinks."

Yukina gasped as a small resin bag packed full of hirui stones landed on the bar in front of her. She looked first at the bag and then up at the bartender.

"I got a whole basement full of crap from spirit world," he said. "Help yourself to whatever you need."

Yukina's jaw dropped and she hesitated, staring at the bartender in disbelief, only awakening from the moment when she felt a hand on her arm guiding her away from the bar. She stumbled a few steps away before turning to see who was with her, gasping again when she found herself looking at the back of Hiei's head. He led her across the room to a low door, beyond which they descended a long staircase to a cold, damp basement, lit only by a single, aging torch mounted on one wall.

"What are we looking for?" Hiei asked her.

Yukina turned to him, her jaw still hanging open and her mind still blank.

"And for future reference, never give your real name," he added. "And always remember that money is the only language these cretins speak."

"Did you just give that man the bounty money Jagasame paid you?" Yukina asked.

Hiei met her eyes.

"Yes," he said. "Do you have a problem with that?"

Yukina shook her head.

"I thought this seemed like the most appropriate use for it, after all," he added.

Yukina nodded.

"So what are we looking for?" he asked again.

"A mirror," Yukina replied.

Hiei turned around on the spot before looking over at Yukina again. Only when she saw the slightly pained expression on his face did she copy his action of looking around the room, her first impression being that the bartender really did own a tremendous amount of spirit world treasures and her second impression being that most of them were some sort of mirror.

"Any idea what it looks like?" Hiei asked.

"No, sorry," Yukina replied.

"You take that half of the room, I'll look over here."

Yukina nodded and set about her search: though she did think it odd that Hiei was so eager to help her.

* * *

"Take a left."

Kurama frowned at Yusuke but did as he asked and turned his car left.

"We're now moving away from the city, Yusuke," he pointed out.

"I know," Yusuke casually replied. "Just trust me."

"We're approaching the harbour," Kurama commented. "Is that where you want me to take you?"

"Just trust me, fox boy."

Kurama felt as though he was being set up for something.

"Why did you give that fruit of previous life I gave you to Botan?" he asked.

"I dunno," Yusuke replied, again sounding far too casual. "Why did you give her that ugly cat statue?"

"I already told you why," Kurama said. "I owed her an apology. It was a peace offering."

"For what?"

Kurama hesitated, at first unwilling to admit the truth; but since the whole dilemma with the rebel cat demons was over, he reasoned that he had nothing to hide any more.

"I went to see Botan in spirit world when we were still trying to find out why the rebel cat demons were contacting Yukina," he confessed. "I tried to force her to use her position as one of Koenma's trusted aides to give me access to the file Koenma kept on the rebel leader. She was clearly uncomfortable with helping me, but she did it regardless because of my persuasion, and I think that may be the reason she was punished alongside Koenma when Yasashi was released from spirit world. Botan took me to the secret file room and I could tell that was something she shouldn't have done. I think she was blamed for what was effectively my malfeasance."

"Sneaky," Yusuke said. "Park up here."

Kurama narrowed his eyes as he entered the Sarayashiki Harbour car park.

"It doesn't bother you that Botan suffered because of me?" he asked.

"No, and pretty soon I don't think it's gonna bother you either," Yusuke replied.

Kurama pulled into a parking space and stopped the car, turning to look at Yusuke.

"I hope you kept the receipt for that dumb cat ornament," Yusuke said with a smirk. "Because I'm pretty sure you're gonna want a refund after you see this."

Kurama started to ask Yusuke what he was talking about, but the mazoku had already left the car. Kurama hurried out after him, catching up to him as he reached the binoculars mounted on the pier that were usually only of any interest to tourists.

"Take a look out at Ping Island," Yusuke said, nodding at one of the binoculars.

Kurama fumbled in his pocket for a coin to activate the binoculars before doing as Yusuke suggested. The view the binoculars gave of Ping Island was not a detailed one – due to the distance and small size of the island – but Kurama did not need to see any details as the colour of what he could see told him all that he needed to know.

"The flowers are still alive," he concluded, straightening up.

"Funny thing that," Yusuke said.

"It makes no sense," Kurama said, turning to Yusuke. "One of the other rebels must have planted them, otherwise they would have died along with Yasashi."

"Unless Yasashi didn't die," Yusuke said.

Kurama gave Yusuke a hard look, but Yusuke remained uncharacteristically serious.

"I didn't check myself, but I knew those flowers would still be alive when I saw how Koenma reacted to you saying they ought not to be," Yusuke added. "And also because of this."

Yusuke reached into the inside pocket of his green jacket and produced a folded up paper. Kurama looked down at the two-page document before slowly lifting his eyes to Yusuke's.

"What is that?" he asked.

"It's the last couple of pages out of the Raspberry Sundae file," Yusuke replied.

Kurama slowly accepted the paper from Yusuke.

"Where did you get this?" he asked.

"The Raspberry Sundae file," Yusuke replied. "Koenma sent me to get it back from where he hid it."

"And you read it?"

Yusuke shrugged.

"I was curious," he said, as though what he had done was not a big deal. "It's pretty boring, but this last part is pretty interesting. It's about you."

Kurama's face dropped and Yusuke nodded at the paper in his hand.

"You really need to read it, Kurama," he insisted. "It explains a lot."

Kurama slowly lowered his eyes to the two-page document, opening it out to do as Yusuke suggested.

* * *

"Maybe it's this one."

"No."

Yukina sighed louder than she had meant to, and Hiei stopped, turning more fully towards her.

"You don't understand," he said. "What you're looking for won't look like that."

Yukina looked down at the oval mirror she had picked up. It was about the length of her arm and half as wide at its widest point, set in an ornate silver frame decorated with jade stones.

"You're thinking like a demon, Yukina."

Yukina slowly lifted her eyes from her own reflection in the slightly grubby mirror to look over at Hiei.

"You need to think like a spirit."

"I don't understand what you mean, Mister Hiei," she admitted.

"A demon who created a mirror of such importance would make something that looks like the mirror you now hold," Hiei said as he continued clawing through the piles of treasures around him. "Whereas someone in spirit world creating such a powerful item would make it less conspicuous. Demons make valuable things look valuable. Spirits make valuable things look worthless: that's how they keep them from being stolen by we demons."

"Oh, I see," Yukina said, placing down the mirror she had been holding. "So I should look for something plain and simplistic?"

"Exactly," Hiei confirmed.

Yukina turned back to her section of the basement, pushing her way through several ornate mirrors before finding something ridiculously plain and inconspicuous. She carefully picked it up, finding it to be what looked like a plain wooden hand mirror. The wood was a little dry and cracked and the mirror was darkened over, and the only indication that it was anything other than a plain old hand mirror was the very faded four red spirit symbols painted onto the back of it.

"Like this?" she asked, holding up her find.

"Exactly like that," Hiei replied.

Yukina stood up and smiled as Hiei approached her.

"Does it work?" he asked her.

She looked at the dark reflection of her own face for several seconds before slowly shaking her head.

"I'm not sure," she concluded.

"Usually you need to do something to activate it," Hiei advised.

"Oh, okay…" Yukina said.

"Try this."

Hiei touched a hand to the back of the mirror and Yukina gasped as it illuminated and her reflection changed, brightening and becoming clear.

"What do you see now?" Hiei asked her.

Yukina stared at the mirror, Hiei's question leaving her mind mere moments after it had entered her ears. She reasoned that what she could see was a fair result, but it still felt strange and saddening to see it.

"I see myself," she said quietly. "But… Different…"

She turned her head from side to side and her reflection followed as it would with a normal mirror, but still the face looking back out at her was devoid of a jagan eye, dressed in a kimono and located in the ice village.

"I think this is what it's supposed to do," she concluded.

Hiei nodded and held a hand out towards the door.

"Then let's not linger here," he said.

Yukina nodded and walked past him, her hands still clutching the mirror, holding it up in front of her face. As she passed Hiei his reflection appeared alongside hers and she stopped walking. She stared, unblinkingly, at the face behind her left shoulder, not only shocked to see it but at a genuine loss to explain it.

"What is it?" Hiei asked her.

When Yukina saw the lips of the reflected face moving in sync with Hiei's words she started to understand what she was looking at.

"We shouldn't loiter here," Hiei added. "That bartender may have let us come down here, but I don't trust him not to betray us. If somebody pays him more than we did, he'll reveal that we came here. Don't let him see what you left with. Hide the mirror before we exit the basement."

Yukina swallowed hard as tears threatened.

"Give me the mirror, I'll hide it," Hiei said.

He moved closer and grabbed a hand at the mirror, but he too stopped short when his eyes landed on what Yukina was still captivated by. She slowly turned her head to look at him, seeing his pupils contracted, his mouth slightly open and his skin visibly paler as he stared at his reflection in the mirror.

"Why would it show you that way?" Yukina whispered.

Hiei made a small noise but otherwise did not respond.

"Unless…"

Yukina turned back to the mirror and again saw that Hiei's reflection was identical to her own.

"You're my brother," she said firmly, turning to look at him again. "Your reflection is the same as mine because you are the same as me."

He slowly turned his head and met her eyes, his mouth and eyes twitching several times.

"It's true, isn't it?" she asked. "You can't deny it."

"Stupid mirror…" Hiei grumbled.

"It's true though, isn't it?" Yukina pressed.

Hiei snatched the mirror from her hands and stuffed it into the folds of his coat.

"Let's just say the mirror is doing exactly what you expected it to," he said quietly.

He started out the door and Yukina hesitated to follow him, still reeling from what she had discovered. She only found the strength to move again when Hiei called out her name from the top of the staircase. She then snapped out of her reverie and hurried after him, catching up to him as he crossed the bar to a wall covered with posters.

"None of these posters are for the rebel cat demons," he said, pointing at the wall.

Yukina scanned over the wanted posters with a smile of relief: though when she noticed a poster depicting Kuwabara and mentioning something about slug sausages she started to panic again.

"Wait, somebody is offering a reward for Kazuma!" she said.

"Don't worry about that," Hiei said dismissively. "Follow me, I know what we need to do next."

"You-you do?"

Yukina hurried after Hiei.

"Wait!" she said. "Did you know that you were my brother?"

Hiei grumbled something about ungrateful foxes but otherwise did not respond.

* * *

Botan hummed cheerfully to herself as she soared through the skies on her oar. She was glad the madness of the last week had passed and things were back to normal again. She was at her happiest when things were peaceful and relaxed and nobody's life was in danger and there were no threats from any evil demons. She felt a strange blast of air at the back of her head and frowned, looking back over her shoulder to see the blade of her oar dropping towards the ground.

Botan screamed as she began to plummet through the air. Thankfully she had not been flying so high that her fall would be too painful, but she was falling over a forest, and she did hit just about every tree branch on her way down, before landing in a bed of dandelions, a cloud of fluffy seeds rising all around her. She slowly sat up and sneezed before noticing the two figures approaching her. She looked first at Hiei's sword and then at Yukina's concerned eyes.

"Hello you two…" she said slowly. "Fancy seeing you here. Together. At the same time that somebody just attacked me."

"I'm sorry, but we had to get your attention," Yukina replied.

Botan's eyes widened as Hiei replaced his sword to its scabbard with a "hn".

"You-you did this to me?" she asked, holding up the severed handle of her oar.

Yukina glanced at Hiei and Botan turned to him expectantly.

"Don't look at me," he said. "I'm only a part of this because I don't want to have to endure another thirty years of Kurama bemoaning your departure."

Botan turned to Yukina.

"What?" she asked.

Yukina gave her a sympathetic look before opening up her arms – which had been crossed over her chest – to reveal that she was holding a battered old hand mirror. Botan squinted at the object curiously before her eyes widened suddenly.

"That's from spirit world!" she said, pointing at the four spirit symbols on the back of the mirror. "Where did you find it?"

"That's not important," Hiei told her.

"Well I rather think it is important!" Botan protested. "If Lord Koenma knew that something from spirit world was in the living world, he'd–"

"Botan?"

Botan stopped at the sound of Yukina's voice.

"I hope this doesn't hurt," she said sweetly.

Botan started to frown, started to wonder what on earth the little ice maiden had meant, but she forgot all about it when Yukina turned the mirror around and she caught sight of her own reflection in it.

* * *

"I feel like a fool."

"Ah don't beat yourself up. None of the rest of us figured it out either."

Kurama shook his head.

"I can't believe it," he said.

"I know, right?" Yusuke responded. "Your hot and powerful girlfriend was Botan this whole time."

Kurama gave Yusuke a withering look.

"Not that I was checking her out or anything!" Yusuke said.

"The fact that Yasashi was Botan and Botan was Yasashi is not the most surprising part of this," Kurama said.

"Really?" Yusuke said. "I thought it was pretty crazy. I also kinda thought you'd feel more stupid for not realising that Botan was your secret girlfriend this whole time…"

"That's why you gave her the fruit of previous life?"

"Yeah. I know the file says the only way to reverse the effects of the crystal is to cut it back out, but I figured it was worth a try. Too bad it didn't work. I wanted to see how Koenma would've explained Botan turning into Yasashi right in front of everyone."

"Did you read all of this, Yusuke?"

Yusuke turned more fully towards Kurama, looking first at the document and then at Kurama.

"Uh, yeah, sorry, I kinda did," he admitted. "I wasn't gonna, but it got kinda juicy and I couldn't help myself."

Kurama nodded.

"I had no idea she might have said such things," he said.

"Really?" Yusuke asked.

Kurama nodded again.

"Well I need to head back anyway," Yusuke said. "Keep that for now, but I'm gonna need to get it back to Koenma soon, so get it back to me when you're done, yeah?"

Kurama nodded and Yusuke started to walk away, cupping his hands at either side of his mouth and making turkey noises. Kurama moved to the edge of the pier and sat down, his legs hanging over the edge so that his feet were barely above the water. He then looked down at the document in his hands, feeling a need to read it through again as he was still barely able to believe that he had read it correctly the first time.


	24. Diana

**Chapter 24 – Diana**

"I'm trying everything I can."

"I think this might be my ninth life. I just wish I could have seen my girls set up in a safe place to live in peace before now."

"Surely this is only your first of your nine lives? You've still got eight more! Don't give up, I will find a way to save you."

"I just wish I'd had more time."

"That's a common complaint from the dying."

"No, Koenma, I needed more time. I needed more time to get the rebels to safety and I needed more time to get back to living my own life."

"Living your own life?"

"Believe it or not, as a little kitten, it wasn't my dream to become a fugitive when I grew up. I wanted to learn more about all the different demon plants and I wanted to compete in the dark tournament."

"I thought you said you were weary of fighting?"

"I'm weary of fighting off bounty hunters. I never get bored of challenging myself. I just needed more time. I'd finally found someone I could learn from too."

"Yasashi, there is a way to stop all of this. The crystal of change could save your life."

"You want to turn me into a spirit?"

"Basically yes."

"But I don't want to live in spirit world. I want to go home. I want to go back to my friends and dancing."

"Dancing?"

"That's all we do. Me and him. I don't know, maybe he doesn't see it that way. I had a plan, but like all my other plans, I didn't think it out very well and I waited too long to act it out."

"I think you're becoming delirious. You should rest."

"I can't stay in spirit world. I have to get back. I never asked for anything for myself, but I need this one thing, just for me. I need to go back. I need to see him again. Even if it's just for one last dance. That would be enough."

"I don't know what you're talking about Yasashi, but I have the crystal here now. If I put this inside you, it will save your life, but it will take your demon energy and you won't remember anything about your demon life after the crystal has been embedded. It's a harsh trade, but it's the only way I have left to save you now."

"Then let me die. If I have to forget, it's not worth it. It's not fair. I'm tired of being cheated out of my own life. I'd rather die with my memories than live an eternity without them."

"Surely you can't mean that?"

"I was supposed to find a safe place for us. And then I was supposed to have a life of my own. I never got to have anything for me. That was all I wanted. I just wanted something for myself. My own life. I wanted to just be me and not some name on a wanted poster. Every time the moon was full – and sometimes even when it wasn't full – I would see him. Usually at the lake with all the hate fish – I think it's called Hate Fish Lake – and we would just dance."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yoko Kurama."

"Who?"

"He's part of a group of thieves, he's got a bit of a reputation as a bandit, but there's nothing he doesn't know about demon plants. I was supposed to find a safe place for the girls to live and then I was supposed to train with him. I never told him that – because I didn't get enough time to – and I was supposed to get stronger and prove myself to him. I think I might have been in love with him. I don't know, I didn't have enough time to find out. He was the only thing I just wanted for myself, and the moment I started to want him, the moment I started to think about what my life might be like if I wasn't a "hero", I died. It's not fair. Why can't I have something just for me?"

"You can still have a life and it can be lived peacefully. With this crystal."

"No."

"Trust me Yasashi. I will make sure you have a good life here in spirit world."

"I just wanted that one thing. I want to remember. Even just one dance."

"It doesn't work that way."

"Just let me keep just one memory. Just one last dance."

Kurama lifted his head from the document, which he had read at least seven times already. Night had long fallen, but there was a brilliant full moon that was casting enough light over the water that he could still see the distant blob that was Ping Island. As he looked out at it, he wondered if it was funny – in a sickeningly ironic sort of way – that he had given Botan a cat ornament by way of an apology earlier that day, and he wondered if her love of cat-related things and her ability to pull cat faces had anything to do with the fact that she was in fact a cat demon in disguise.

He wondered if she would ever remember who she was or any of the things she had said to Koenam during the final moments of her life as Yasashi.

* * *

Yukina grabbed the mirror to her chest, covering it with her hands and watching fearfully as Botan rose to her feet, a strange look on her face.

"Are you alright?" Yukina asked.

Botan looked over at Hiei before answering.

"I suppose so," she said. "Maybe Koenma won't be so angry with me for breaking my oar if I bring that mirror back to spirit world with me."

She held out her hand towards Yukina, who simply stared back at her.

"Don't worry sweetie, I won't tell him where or how I found it," Botan assured her.

Yukina looked down at the mirror, once more seeing her own reflection as something other than the literal, before slowly holding the mirror out towards Botan.

"Thank you for bringing it to me," Botan said, taking the mirror and stuffing it up a sleeve of her kimono. "Excuse me though, I really must go: without my oar, it's going to take me a little longer to finish my duties…"

Yukina watched her turn away and start to walk through the forest, following no particular path as she went. Once she was out of sight, Yukina turned to Hiei, finding him watching the point where Botan had disappeared, looking slightly perturbed.

"It didn't work," she said to him. "I-I was sure it would work!"

"Didn't the file from spirit world say there was only one way to reverse the effects of the crystal?" Hiei asked, his eyes still looking out in the direction Botan had left. "Cutting it out is the only way, and, for her own safety, that can't be done until her name is forgotten in demon world."

"But Yasashi said there was two ways," Yukina insisted. "And in the file, Koenma spoke of the "reflection of revelations", a mirror that showed the true nature of anyone who looked into it and made them realise that what they saw was their true nature. I thought she would see herself as a cat demon and realise who she really was."

Hiei turned to look at Yukina, his face still a little tense.

"So did I," he said.

* * *

Kurama stuffed his hands into his pants pockets as he neared the only house in the street that was still fully-lit. He had been hoping for an early night after having so little sleep the night before and wandering the streets at two in the morning on a weekday was never the best way to pass time, but as he had arrived home to find his mother distraught, he had agreed to go out and find his stepfather before he killed his son for (yet again) sneaking out to an all-night house party. As he approached the house in question, he was both amazed that none of the neighbours had called the police about the noise and surprised that none of those at the party had the good sense to realise how much attention they were drawing to themselves.

He walked up the garden path, stepping over a girl in a miniskirt who had passed out halfway through writing what looked like her phone number onto one of the paving stones with a lipstick. Even though the front door was already open, the noise magnified immensely when Kurama stepped over the threshold, and he had to fight the urge to choke as he drew in a breath of hot, heavy air that reeked of alcohol, smoke, cheap perfume and sweat. The party really was a popular event, as he had to push his way through crowds of people, surprised to see that some of what Kokoda had said was actually true: some of the people in attendance were at least ten years older than the party hosts.

Kurama eventually found his stepbrother standing in the kitchen, his shirt open, a half-empty beer bottle in one hand and a girl in the other.

"Shuichi!" he yelled when he noticed Kurama approaching him. "You came!"

Kurama shook his head, pushing to get closer before answering, already knowing that his soft voice would not carry over the general disorder around them. Once he was at Kokoda's side he started to tell him that he needed to come home, but stopped abruptly when he noticed something on his stepbrother's back, visible through his sweat-soaked shirt.

"Is that a real tattoo?" he asked instead.

"What?" Kokoda echoed, looking genuinely lost.

"Is that a real tattoo on your back?" Kurama pressed.

"I got a tattoo?" Kokoda asked, releasing the girl at his side and literally dropping his bottle of beer.

Kurama took a step back as the bottle fell on the kitchen floor at his feet and began spilling out, waiting patiently as Kokoda wrestled himself free of his shirt.

"What does it say?" he asked, turning his back to Kurama and looking back over his shoulder with what Kurama thought was an inappropriate level of cheer.

"You got a tattoo and you don't know what it is?" Kurama asked.

"What does it say?" Kokoda asked.

Kurama looked down at the unfortunately badly etched tattoo of a pink bunny rabbit sitting in a green cocktail glass on Kokoda's back for a moment before deciding to be diplomatic.

"We should go," he said.

"No, wait!" Kokoda said, turning to face him. "There's girl here who's about your age, she's not really hot, but she's really easy. I'll introduce you."

Kurama effortlessly pulled his arm from Kokoda's grasp, leaving his stepbrother to stumble slightly as he had obviously been expecting Kurama to let him pull him through the house.

"If you don't come home with me now, your father will come here and take you home by force," Kurama warned. "Be wise and come with me. I won't tell anyone about your tattoo."

Kokoda appeared to think over his options.

"Do you really want your friends to see your father dragging you out of here?" Kurama pressed.

"God, you're always so sensible, Shuichi!" Kokoda moaned.

However, he did pick up his shirt and start towards the door. Kurama followed him, relieved when he did not hesitate to leave the house entirely.

"Didn't you ever go to any parties when you were my age?" Kokoda asked as they reached the street outside.

Kurama smiled patiently, not wishing to have to answer.

"Oh wait, I remember what you did when you were my age," Kokoda said after a short pause. "You went antiquing with dad and you did gardening with your mom. Don't you ever get bored? Don't you ever want to just break out and do something exciting?"

"What can I say, Kokoda?" Kurama calmly replied. "I just don't have the heart for such endeavours like you do."

Kokoda moaned and walked on a little further before complaining about feeling unwell. Kurama supported him on a little further before stopping and waiting patiently as he vomited down a storm drain, and then Kurama carried Kokoda on his back until they reached their own front door. Once they were inside, both Kokoda and Kazuya started yelling, and although it had been Kurama's plan to intervene and bring them all to order – as he usually always did when such an event occurred – he instead backed out of the house and turned to look over at one corner of the front garden.

There was not a single plant in either the front or the back garden of the house that Kurama had not planted – or helped to plant – himself, and so the sight of a plant that was both new and unrecognisable was both interesting and suspicious to him.

As Kazuya accused his son of being a wild child and Shiori pleaded with him to lower his voice, Kurama crossed the garden to the bush that had newly appeared. It was as tall as his hips, but the ground around it had not been newly disturbed, meaning it had not been newly planted there and therefore must have grown from an existing, smaller plant. In fact, he thought as he studied its location a little closer, it appeared to have grown from the raspberry sundae he had bought the week before; despite the fact that the plant had been devoid of flowers after Tora had torn them off.

And, for some inexplicable reason, the plant had not only grown immensely and bloomed with the expected pink and cream peonies, it had also sprouted several red roses. Kurama thought that maybe a climbing rose had become engulfed by the peonies, but both types of flower appeared to be coming from just the one plant. He touched a hand to one of the peonies, a faint hint of demon energy tingling against his palm.

Yasashi must have mutated and grown the plant when she had come to populate his garden with her raspberry sundaes; though he wondered why she had not mentioned having done it when he had encountered her in demon world.

Maybe it was just her way of sending him some sort of message, and the plant had survived by chance because Yasashi too had survived by chance – albeit in the body of a spirit and unaware of who and what she really was.

At the sound of Kokoda threatening to move out of the house, Kurama turned and started back inside. He first encouraged his mother to go back to bed, gently but firmly taking hold of her shoulders and guiding her upstairs.

"You're such a good boy, Shuichi," she said as he eased her into her bedroom. "I never had any worries like that with you."

She turned around and kissed him on the cheek, before putting her arms around him. He smiled and returned her embrace, taking some degree of solace from the knowledge that he had exceeded her expectations of a well-behaved son.

"Try to get some sleep, I'll make sure they stop fighting and get to bed," he said as Shiori released her hold of him.

She touched her hands to his face and smiled up at him lovingly. He waited until she had released him and turned to go to bed as he had suggesred before leaving the room and hurrying back down the stairs.

"Please, it's late, we're all tired, it's not prudent to bicker like this," he said, holding up his hands.

"Yes, we have work and school tomorrow," Kazuya agreed. "But we're not done here, we'll be talking about this again tomorrow!"

Kokoda pulled a face at the back of his father's head as he turned to leave.

"Let's just go to bed," Kurama said to him.

"I feel sick," Kokoda replied.

"I'll put a basin by your bed," Kurama offered.

"Okay."

As Kazuya and Kokoda retired to their respective rooms, Kurama collected a basin from the kitchen, bringing it upstairs and placing it by Kokoda's bedside before finally moving to his own bedroom, where he gladly shut the door. He quickly changed into his pyjamas and got into his bed, lying down facing the wall and closing his eyes.

And, at the exact moment that he started to feel comfortable in his bed and as though sleep might finally come, Kurama realised that there was someone in his room.

Kurama opened his eyes, pausing long enough to acknowledge that he could not feel a powerful aura or any malicious intent, but that he could definitely hear someone moving about behind him, before he turned and sat up in his bed.

"Oh hello."

Kurama pushed his bedsheets aside and turned fully around, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed, switching on his bedside light and frowning as he watched Botan close the book she had been holding and then throw it down onto the floor. She turned to face Kurama then, the strangely serious look on her face making her almost as unrecognisable as the business suit she was wearing, complimented by a pair of slightly clumsy, thick-framed glasses, her hair scraped up into a tight bun high on her head.

"Oh, don't mind me," she said. "I'm just creeping about in your bedroom, touching all your stuff, messing up the feng shui of the room and watching you sleep. You know, like we friends do to each other from time to time…"

"Ah," Kurama said with a nod his head. "Well, Botan, truth be told, that was the real reason why I bought you a gift. I was trying to apologise for what I did – wait, what are you doing?"

Kurama turned, his eyes widening slightly as Botan sat down onto his bed, sitting closer to him than seemed reasonable.

"Oh this is the part where I sit on your bed and say lots of charming things to you," Botan said, her face still far too serious for Kurama's liking.

"Yes, well, I did want to apologise for all of that," Kurama assured her. "And could you possibly keep your voice down?"

"Keep my voice down?" Botan repeated, her voice no quieter than before.

"Yes," Kurama said softly. "Please."

"Why?" Botan asked, her voice still too loud for his liking. "In case someone overhears us talking? Would you get in trouble if they did?"

Kurama laughed nervously.

"It's been an eventful night for my family already," he said. "I really wouldn't want to have to explain to them why I have a girl in my bedroom at this hour."

Botan smiled sympathetically and Kurama started to relax.

"We can talk tomorrow," he suggested. "I should really get some sleep now though, and I'm sure you will be missed in spirit world, so you should be off too."

Kurama held out a hand and stood up with the intention of showing Botan the way out.

"I need to talk to you about something."

Kurama looked back over his shoulder.

"Tomorrow?" he tried.

"No," she replied. "Right now."

"It's urgent?"

She nodded solemnly and Kurama reluctantly sat back down.

"What is it?" he asked. "Did Koenma send you?"

Botan shook her head and then reached a hand up to her hair, her fingers feeling at the tightly rolled bun of hair on top of her head for a few seconds before she stopped and brought her hand around, holding up her thumb and forefinger in the air between them.

"It's about this," she said.

Kurama squinted at the barely visible dandelion seed Botan was holding, the body of the seed pinched between her fingers, the feathery end standing upright above the tips of her fingers.

"A dandelion seed?" he asked, meeting her eyes.

Botan moved the seed into the centre of her palm and closed her fist around it.

"What do you think would happen if I channelled my spirit energy into this seed?" she asked.

Kurama frowned, silently wondering why she was asking such a question. A small part of him wondered if someone had told her who and what she really was: but if that was the case, she seemed surprisingly calm for having heard something she ought to – without access to her memories – find ridiculous.

"That was the seed of an ordinary living world weed," Kurama patiently explained. "Only someone versed in control of plants could turn it into any sort of weapon. Without the correct skills and knowledge, you would struggle to control even a demon plant."

"Really?" Botan asked.

"Yes, really," Kurama replied.

"That's strange. Because I got some of these seeds stuck in my hair earlier today, and this happened."

Kurama gasped in spite of himself as green vines snaked out from between Botan's fingers. Some unfurled into dandelion leaves and one grew to almost two feet tall before sprouting a flower with a face as big as Kurama's. He stared at the over-sized flower for a long time, unsure what to think about what he was looking at.

"Well," he eventually said. "I would say that this means that you have the ability to make plants grow."

"And I can turn them into weapons," Botan said.

Kurama shook his head and started to tell her that all she had managed to do was make the plant grow larger than usual; but when the flower face split in two, opening jaws of serrated teeth that snapped at his nose, missing biting him by only the narrowest of margins, he stopped. When he heard movement in another part of the house, he began to panic that a member of his human family would walk into the room and find a girl sitting on his bed holding a giant, vicious flower, and, as though she had sensed his concerns, Botan smiled and opened out her fist, the flower and its leaves retracting back into the seed they had sprouted from.

"That is definitely odd," Kurama said. "But we can talk more about it later."

He thought that perhaps she had accidentally managed to tap into some of her skills as an animal demon, allowing her to control plants. He wondered if she had told anyone else, and what Koenma would think when he found out that one of his ferry girls could manipulate plants so.

"You seem to be in a hurry to get rid of me," Botan said, flicking the dandelion seed away from herself. "Are you worried about getting caught with a girl in your bedroom still?"

"Yes," Kurama replied. "So if you'll just–"

"Don't worry Kurama," Botan interrupted him. "I'm not really a girl."

Kurama hesitated before smiling and nodding as he realised that she was referencing a similar conversation they had shared after leaving her bedroom in spirit world.

"Right," he said. "You're a ferry girl pretending to be a girl."

"Oh no, it's worse than that: I'm a demon pretending to be a ferry girl pretending to be a girl."

Kurama's face dropped and Botan smiled.

"What?" he said.

"It's a funny thing, the crystal of change," Botan said. "The only way to reverse its effects is to cut it out. But there is another way to reverse the memory erasing effects of the crystal: a spirit world treasure called the reflection of revelations. It was lost, but apparently Hiei and Yukina managed to find it. Together. Which I thought was very sweet."

Kurama opened his mouth but words failed him.

"I haven't told anyone that I know," Botan continued. "Not even Hiei and Yukina. I wasn't sure if I should tell anyone, but I did know that I wanted to come and see you."

Kurama nodded.

"Okay," he said.

"There's something very important we need to discuss," she said. "A little unfinished business, if you like."

"There is?"

"Yes. We discussed the relationship between Superman and Wonder Woman and the relationship between Clark Kent and Wonder Woman, but we never spoke about what sort of relationship Clark Kent and Diana share."

Kurama smiled.

"This is my best Diana costume, by the way," Botan added.

"It's not accurate," Kurama answered. "You look more like a female Clark Kent."

"I thought that's what Diana would be. And since you are being so pernickety, you obviously are an expert on the subject, and those comics obviously belong to you, not your stepbrother, like you said before."

"Sometimes it's nice to have something to read that isn't a textbook."

"So who is it that likes reading comic books about superheroes? Is it Shuichi because he's human and he likes reading fantasy, or is it Yoko, taking solace in his own fate to live a double life by reading about someone else who does the same and is considered heroic for doing so?"

Kurama frowned.

"You've given the matter more thought than I have," he concluded.

"I've thought about a lot of things today," Botan replied. "After the mirror helped me realise my hidden memories, instinct took me back to demon world. I went far enough to see the rebels setting up home, but I didn't approach any of them. Only Tora knew that this was the body I had in spirit world, none of them would have recognised me, and though I know I could have explained myself to them, I didn't know if I should. I feel like I caused them so much bother returning to them for just a few days, and things were starting to look good for them: they have a peaceful place to live, they've been joined by some defectors from Jagasame's side and Hiei's theory about Jagasame losing interest in them seems to be true. If word got out that I was still alive, even in this form, all that would change. The hunt would be reinstated, and the peace the rebels have found would be ended. I can't go back to them until some time has passed and my name has been forgotten, just like Hiei said – and yes, I'm as surprised as you are that he was so sensible and thought it all through so carefully – but now that my memories have been returned to me, I don't know that I can spend the next thirty or so years pretending to be contented being a ferry girl."

"Surely it wouldn't take thirty years? You could probably be back to full strength and the rebels settled and strong enough within ten years – or perhaps only five years."

Botan chewed on her lip and Kurama started to sense that he was missing something else.

"There is just one other thing," she said. "It's something I should have been honest about before."

Kurama nodded and opened the top drawer of his nightstand, retrieving the document he had stored there.

"Does it have anything to do with this?" he asked, passing it to Botan.

She stared with wide eyes at the document in his hand, making no attempt to accept it.

"Is that what I think it is?" she asked, looking up at him.

"It's Koenma's report on your death," he replied. "Well, his report on your first death that is… You certainly are proving to be a cat of nine lives…"

"Ah," she said, turning to look at the bedroom door. "Is it true that my last words are in there?"

"I believe so. There is a conversation recorded here that took place between you and Koenma. He doesn't explain why he noted it all in such detail, but it is in here."

"Ah. I see. I'm too late again."

"Too late for what?"

"I didn't want you to see that."

"Why not?"

"Well, it wasn't exactly fitting for the heroic rebel leader to die begging for something selfish and I wanted to tell you about my plans and my feelings for you myself."

"So… This is all true?"

Botan looked up at Kurama.

"Has Hiei spoken to you about this at all?" she asked.

He shook his head and then she turned back to watching the bedroom door.

"He thinks the SDF were able to mortally wound you because I had mentioned meeting you at the hate fish lake when the moon was full or not-quite full," she said. "He thought they used that information to wait there for you and trap you."

Kurama paused to consider Botan's words before shaking his head.

"If that were the case, I'm sure they would have acted much quicker and caught me sooner than they did," he said. "And besides, I wasn't attacked by the hate fish lake or during the night, so there's no possible way that what you said condemned me. Is that what's been bothering you?"

"Yes," Botan replied. "I wasn't going to tell anyone that I had become aware of who I am, but I had to clear my conscience. I had to make you know that I never sold you out – not intentionally, anyway."

"I never thought that you had sold me out," Kurama assured her. "I was just surprised to read the things you said. I had no idea you wanted such things. It was as surprising to me as it was to hear what you said back in demon world about how you had thought about returning to spirit world."

"I just wanted more time."

"And now you have it. So what now?"

"Well, I do have to stay hidden – or rather, stay undercover – until things settle down a little in demon world. But I thought that I should train while I'm in this form. Everything I learned as Botan transferred over when I was returned to my demon body: including the advanced healing. Hiei suggested I use this time to get stronger, so that when I do go back to demon world I'm strong enough to deal with Jagasame."

"Hiei seems to have understood and planned a lot of complex things lately."

"Yes… Still, he did raise a lot of very valid points. And that is the other reason why I'm here: I wanted to ask you if you would help me train."

Kurama smiled and Botan turned to look directly at him.

"I'd like that," he said. "And you seem to have a good head-start if you're already able to manipulate your energy into common weeds."

"I saw you admiring my handiwork on your way back here," she said. "I did that in this body too."

"The rosebush?"

Botan nodded.

"I see," Kurama said.

"I think it's best I don't tell anyone else that I can remember who I am now," she added. "I'm trusting you to help protect that secret."

"I can do that," Kurama said.

"I'd dearly love to tell them all the truth, but for their sake as well as my own, I need to stay hidden."

"Do you think you can keep up the act? It's not easy pretending to be someone and something that you're not. It's especially not easy pretending to be weak: least of all for proud creatures like us."

"I was hoping that was another area you could help train me in, "Shuichi"."

"Perhaps you don't find that so amusing now that you are in the same situation."

"Actually no, I still find it hilarious that you're sitting next to me in fleece pyjamas and that you're on edge in case your mother catches you with a girl in your room."

Kurama's smile faded and Botan's grew.

"But for the most part, you're right," she conceded. "As long as you are Clark Kent, I'll be Diana."

"I expect to remain as Clark Kent until my mother's passing," Kurama pointed out.

"And I think that ought to be about long enough for me to get stronger, for my name to have been forgotten and for Jagasame to have gotten older, fatter, weaker and more careless."

"I see. In that case it seems we have more time to dance."

Botan smiled.

"Exactly," she agreed.

She then stood up, took one last look around the room and then leaned over the bed, opening the window. She summoned her oar and sat onto it, but Kurama stood up, holding out a hand to halt her exit.

"Did you overhear all the things I said to Yusuke about you that day you were flying alongside Puu on our return from demon world?" he asked as she met his eyes.

"I heard you calling me a "magnificent creature", if that's what you mean," she replied with a smirk.

"Did you also hear me say things would be different if I was given another chance to meet you as I am now?" he asked.

Botan became serious as she nodded.

"Good," he said. "Come here on Sunday afternoon. My mother's making dinner for us."

"She-she is?" Botan asked.

"Yes," Kurama replied. "She wants to meet the girl who's been keeping me up at nights."

Botan smiled.

"Okay," she said. "I can do that. I'll see you on Sunday."

"It's a date," he said.

Botan nodded and then started to fly out the window, but Kurama grabbed a hand at her oar, catching it just above the blade, bringing Botan to an abrupt halt halfway out the window. Keeping hold of her oar, he jumped up onto the bed and leaned into the windowframe to bring himself up to eye level with her.

"Just one more thing I promised myself I would do differently," he said.

Botan started to tell him that she agreed with him completely about making the most of second chances, but she stopped when he touched his free hand to her face. Together they leaned in, their lips meeting in a light and tender kiss – though the contact was brief as the sound of someone getting out of bed in a nearby room reached their ears.

"You know, I'm sure Clark Kent didn't live with his mother," Botan commented.

"And I'm sure Diana didn't collect aesthetically displeasing cat ornaments," Kurama replied.

"Fair point, well made," Botan conceded.

"We probably need a little time to figure this out a little better."

"See you Sunday?"

Kurama nodded and leaned forwards, managing to land one more brief kiss before the sound of a bedroom door opening broke them apart again. Botan flew out the window, pausing to wave, and then rocketed off into the sky. Kurama closed the window behind her and quickly buried himself in his bedsheets; even the sound of Kokoda throwing up in the bathroom sink could not ruin his happiness at the moment.

 **THE END**


End file.
